Spain will restore the COVID-19 “checks” to the passengers from China before him sharp increase in cases in this country, asking them for a negative test or a certificate of vaccinationannounced this Friday the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, while Israel will impose the mandatory test on travelers from the Asian country.
“We are going to implement the controls in our airports requiring the passengers from China a negative test against COVID or complete vaccination schedule”.
The United States also announced that it will require negative COVID-19 tests for all visitors to enter the country.air travelers from Chinaalleging that Beijing does not share enough information about the increase in coronavirus cases.
As of January 5, “all passengers air tickets of two years or more whose origin is China must take a test no more than two days before your departure from China, Hong Kong Y macauand show a negative result to the airlines at the time of departure,” the official said.
The test applies to passengers regardless of nationality and vaccination status, and includes individuals traveling to the United States from China through third countries, as well as those that stop at any US airport.
Mandatory test to enter Israel
Along with Spain, the Israeli Ministry of Health announced that it will also impose the application of COVID-19 to passengers arriving from China, given the explosion of cases that the Asian country is currently experiencing and its relaxation of sanitary measures.
“It has been decided to order foreign airlines to accept foreign citizens on a flight from China to Israel only if they test negative for COVID,” the new Health Minister said in a statement. Arie Dery.
Likewise, Dery’s announcement is made this Friday, one day after taking office, and after a meeting with senior public health officials in the Hebrew country, whose purpose was to analyze the possible impact on Israel of the wave of unprecedented contagions that China is going through after the abrupt abandonment, a month ago, of its strict policy of “COVID zero“.
While, although the measure must be implemented by the airlines for foreign citizens, the minister also requested the installation of a “voluntary” detection center for passengers returning from China, while also recommending avoiding travel to the Middle Eastern country.
Seoul joins measures
On the other hand, the Prime Minister of South Korea, Han Duck-sooannounced that for two months, until February 2023, travelers from China must present a mandatory PCR or antigen test negative to COVID.
In the same way, similar to the Israeli measure, which requests it before boarding the plane, in the case of South Korea, passengers must take the test 48 or 24 hours before arriving in the country, depending on the type of test, having to perform a PCR during his first day in South Korea.
Meanwhile, flights from China will have to land at the Incheon International Airport for adequate containment in the face of the possibility of incoming cases, while the creation of new flights with the Asian giant will be temporarily suspended.
To this, will also be added, only during January, the restriction on the issuance of short-term visas to Chinese nationals, with the exception of diplomatic, humanitarian, essential business and public servants.
Others in Europe
In addition, this Friday the government of France announced that travelers from China must present a negative anti-COVID test carried out in the 48 hours prior to the trip to be admitted on board the plane.
In the same way, after landing, random tests to passengers, while those departing positive will be sequenced in order to detect possible new variants of the virus.
While, according to various media reports, the United Kingdom will join the list also requesting the presentation of a negative result to travelers arriving from China.
What does China say about its COVID figures?
The country insisted that its data on deaths from COVID-19 they have always been transparent, despite the fact that the official figures do not seem to reflect the situation in hospitals and crematoriums in the country.
The national disease control body reported 5,500 new infections and one death on Friday.
However, the end of the massive tests carried out so far and the change in the definition of deaths from COVID-19 cast doubt on whether these data reflect the magnitude of the epidemic in the country.
- Some experts estimate that there may be as many as 9,000 deaths a day from coronavirus.
After nearly three years of a “zero covid” policy, China earlier this month lifted numerous restrictions and this week announced it would repeal mandatory quarantines for international travelers.
This led countries like the United States, Italy, Japan or India to impose restrictions on passengers arriving from China.
