These Countries Have Introduced China COVID Travel Restrictions

Several countries have imposed restrictions so far, and more may follow.

Following China’s decision to ease COVID restrictions, some countries have implemented their own restrictions on passengers arriving from China amid a surge in COVID cases. Let’s take a closer look below.

Countries react to China’s COVID spike

The news that China had eased quarantine rules for international arrivals was well received by both airlines and passengers, but a worrying rise in COVID cases across China has forced several countries to leave China. have imposed restrictions on passengers in. So far these countries are:

• we
• India
• Taiwan
• Japan
• Korea
• Italy
• Malaysia

As Simple Flying reported in the last 24 hours, the US has made it mandatory for travelers from China to be tested from January 5, and India has made it mandatory for travelers from China to be tested for COVID.

Japan announced yesterday that passengers from China will also be required to show negative PCR test results, and those who test positive will have to undergo a week of quarantine. will comply with this by requiring all China-based travelers to undergo a PCR test up to 48 hours prior to arrival, in addition to rapid antigens upon arrival. Japan and South Korea are also considering flight caps to limit her daily arrivals from China.

Taiwan will also require PCR testing upon arrival for all travelers from China. In Malaysia, arrivals from China are required to download the MySejahtera tracking app and conduct a self-test.Positive tests are issued with a home surveillance order.

Italy has become the first European country to impose restrictions on flights to China by requiring antigen swabs and sequences for all arrivals. It was reported that almost half of the passengers tested positive for the virus.

more countries may follow

As this is still a developing situation, many countries have yet to publicize their positions. The European Union will make an announcement today, but individual her EU Member States will have the final say on border controls.

The UK and France initially appeared to rule out the possibility of imposing restrictions, but this could change in the coming days. A UK government spokesperson said there were “no plans” to introduce restrictions, but Defense Secretary Ben Wallace later claimed that the UK’s response was “under consideration”. , urged the country to follow Italy’s mandatory inspections on arrival.

While Australia continues to monitor the situation and has not yet imposed restrictions, Philippine Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said the country is considering testing requirements for all Chinese arrivals. said.

Why impose limits?

China announced on December 7 that it would lift “COVID Zero” restrictions following mass protests across the country. Unfortunately, low levels of immunity led to an astronomical increase in COVID cases, thought to be in the hundreds of millions, in December.

Photo: China Eastern Airlines

Despite the fact that the majority of countries around the world have moved to a “coexistence with the virus” approach this year, there are serious concerns about what is happening in China. Given the population, immune-resistant variants of the virus could emerge and set the world back on track.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the lack of transparency from China has made it difficult to track which strains have spread across the country. Even without the emergence of new variants, an influx of COVID cases could overwhelm a country’s health system and lead to countless avoidable deaths.

Do you think countries should impose restrictions on arrivals from China? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Chosun Ilbo, EuroNews