Passengers arriving from China being tested for COVID-19 on arrival at Milan Malpensa Airport, in Milan, Italy. AP.
New Delhi: Malaysia and South Korea are the latest to join the growing list of countries that have imposed curbs on Chinese travellers. Authorities around the world are imposing or considering restrictions on travellers emerging from China as the country battles a Covid-19 wave driven by the Omicron sub-variant BF.7.
Most countries are citing a complete lack of information from China on variants and are concerned about a wave of infections hitting their countries. China has rejected criticism of its handling of Covid-19 data and said it expects future mutations to be potentially more transmissible but much less severe.
The current Covid-19 wave that China is grappling with started spreading rapidly soon after the country eased restrictions and lifted lockdowns in place for nearly three years, following mass protests by the Chinese people fed up of stringent lockdowns and rigid rules.
Countries that are wary of Chinese travellers:
UNITED STATES
The United States will impose mandatory Covid-19 tests on travellers from China beginning from January 5. All air passengers aged two and older will require a negative result from a test no more than two days before departure from China, Hong Kong or Macau. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also said US citizens should also reconsider travel to China, Hong Kong and Macau.
INDIA
The country has mandated a Covid-19 negative test report for travellers arriving from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Thailand, the health minister said. Passengers from those countries will be quarantined if they show symptoms or test positive.
JAPAN
Japan will require a negative Covid-19 test upon arrival for travellers from mainland China. Those who test positive will be required to quarantine for seven days. New border measures for China will come into effect at midnight on December 30. The government will also limit requests from airlines to increase flights to China.
ITALY
Italy has ordered Covid-19 antigen swabs and virus sequencing for all travellers from China. Milan’s main airport, Malpensa, had already started testing passengers arriving from Beijing and Shanghai. “The measure is essential to ensure surveillance and detection of possible variants of the virus in order to protect the Italian population,” Health Minister Orazio Schillaci said.
SPAIN
Spain will require a negative Covid-19 test or a full course of vaccination against the disease upon arrival for travellers from China, the country’s Health Minister Carolina Darias said.
TAIWAN
Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Centre said all passengers on direct flights from China, as well as by boat at two offshore islands, will have to take PCR tests upon arrival, starting January 1.
MALAYSIA
Malaysia will screen all inbound travellers for fever and test wastewater from aircraft arriving from China for Covid-19, Minister Zaliha Mustafa said in a statement.
SOUTH KOREA
South Korea will require travellers from China to provide negative Covid-19 test results before departure, South Korea’s News1 news agency reported on Friday, after Beijing’s decision to lift stringent zero-COVID policies.
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