Canada, Australia… New countries require negative Covid test for travelers arriving from China

The list continues to grow. Following the United States, Japan and a number of European countries, Canada and Australia announced on Sunday mandatory negative Covid-19 testing for travelers from China, citing fears of an explosion in the country of 1.4 billion people.

“This measure is in response to a significant wave of Covid-19 infections in China and the potential for variants of the virus to emerge in that country,” said Australian Health Minister Mark Butler, announcing that a negative PCR test result would be required for all arrivals from China from January 5. .

The Government of Canada previously announced similar measures “in response to the Covid-19 outbreak in the People’s Republic of China and due to the limited epidemiological and genome sequencing data available on these cases.”

As for Morocco, it will simply ban all travelers from China from January 3rd.

Member states of the European Union should discuss on Wednesday a common response to the adoption, said Sweden, which has been holding the EU’s semi-annual presidency since Sunday. In Europe, France, Italy and Spain in particular have already introduced tighter controls on travelers from China.

The precautionary measures taken by a number of states are “understandable” due to the lack of information provided by Beijing, said the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“New stage”

Three years after the first cases of the coronavirus emerged in Wuhan (center), on December 7, China put an end to its draconian policy known as “Covid zero” without prior notice. After the restrictions were lifted, Chinese hospitals were overwhelmed with mostly elderly patients, crematoria were overflowing, and many pharmacies ran out of fever medicines.

The country recorded about 5,100 new positive cases and another Covid-related death on Sunday. Largely underestimated figures that seem to be completely out of touch with the reality on the ground.

Despite the recovery of the epidemic, the authorities will lift the mandatory quarantine upon arrival in China on January 8 and allow Chinese people to travel abroad after three years of disappointment.

“Prevention and control of the epidemic has entered a new phase. We are still going through a difficult moment,” but “a light of hope lies ahead,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a televised New Year’s address on Saturday evening.

The New Year’s celebrations in the cities of Shanghai and Wuhan drew large crowds, though netizens noted that the festivities looked more relaxed than in previous years.

WHO asks China for real-time data

On Friday, the WHO announced that it had met with Chinese officials to discuss the outbreak.

“WHO has again requested the regular exchange of specific and operational data on the epidemiological situation, including more data on genetic sequencing and on the impact of the disease, including hospitalizations, hospitalizations in intensive care units and deaths,” UN health agency. says in the statement.

She also requested data on vaccinations carried out and vaccination status, in particular among vulnerable individuals and those over 60 years of age.

A recent study by Chinese researchers published in the journal Frontiers of Medicine found that 30 sub-strains of the Omicron variant have been circulating in Shanghai in recent months, including the predominant BF.7 and BA.5.2 sub-variants that have been identified in Beijing and Guangzhou (south).

In her Sunday New Year’s greetings, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen extended an olive branch to China, where military tensions are currently at their peak.

The Taiwanese are “ready to provide necessary assistance on humanitarian grounds” in Beijing, “as long as there is a need,” Ms. Cai said in a peaceful speech.