Member states of the European Union are trying to find a joint stance on how to treat travellers entering the borderless Schengen area from China, after Italy urged the rest of the economic bloc to bring back anti-Covid checks in response to Beijing’s rapid rollback of its previously stringent hygiene restrictions. In recent days more than 50% of passengers from China at Milan’s Malpensa airport have tested positive for the virus, and on Wednesday Italy brought back mandatory coronavirus tests for everyone arriving from China, after reports of rising infection…
Tag: Coronavirus
Rural China races to boost medical facilities ahead of expected Covid surge
China’s sprawling and thinly resourced countryside was racing to beef up its medical facilities amid a surging Covid-19 wave as hundreds of millions of migrant factory workers prepare to return to their families for the lunar new year. Each year, hundreds of millions of people, mostly working in factories near the southern and eastern coasts, return to the countryside for the lunar new year festivities, due to start on 22 January next year. The travel rush is expected to last 40 days, from 7 January to 15 February, the Ministry…
Australia will not require travellers from China to provide negative Covid test
Australia will not immediately follow countries such as the United States, Italy and Japan which have moved to require travellers from China to produce a negative Covid test to enter. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on Thursday backed health advice that said Australia has built up immunity to the variant ravaging China, but he did not rule out travel restrictions in future. Covid has been spreading rapidly throughout China since Beijing begun rolling back its strict “zero-Covid” policies. Several countries have announced border restrictions for arrivals from China, which will…
Italy says arrivals from China must take Covid tests amid new variant concerns
Italy has become the first country in Europe to make it obligatory for people arriving from China to be tested for Covid-19 following Beijing moving to reopen its borders after lifting some of its toughest anti-Covid restrictions. The move, which sees Italy join a number of countries closer to China in changing its travel policy, comes amid concerns over the potential for new variants to emerge during fresh outbreaks of the virus in China and quickly spread overseas. Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and India are among the Asian states that…
China’s dropping of zero-Covid rule sparks concern about new variants – video report
China is to drop some of its toughest coronavirus restrictions – including scrapping quarantine for travellers – ending the government’s zero-Covid policy. Experts are watching nervously to see how this may affect variants and their global spread. Japan and India are among the countries to have introduced measures to prevent an influx of cases. Beijing’s decision on Monday to drop quarantine for overseas visitors from 8 January has prompted concerns about the potential for new variants beyond China’s borders The Guardian
China’s move to open up travel sparks concern over spread of new Covid variants
As China abruptly dropped some of its toughest Covid-19 restrictions – including scrapping quarantine rules for travellers – virologists are watching nervously to see how this may impact Covid-19 variants and their global spread, with some countries already ramping up precautionary measures. The decision on Monday to drop quarantine for overseas visitors from 8 January has prompted concerns about the potential for new variants beyond China’s borders. Japan and India are among the countries that have introduced measures to prevent an influx of cases. Australian infectious diseases physician Prof. Dominic…
China hospitals ‘extremely busy’ amid surging wave of Covid infections
Chinese hospitals were under intense pressure as a surging wave of Covid-19 infections strained resources in the last major country to move towards treating the virus as endemic. In an abrupt change of policy, China earlier this month began dismantling the world’s strictest Covid regime of lockdowns and extensive testing, putting its battered economy on course for a complete re-opening next year. The move, which came after widespread protests against the restrictions, means Covid is spreading largely unchecked and likely infecting millions of people a day, according to some international…
China’s move to ease Covid travel restrictions lifts hopes for global economy
China’s decision to ease rules on travel in and out of the country, the world’s second-largest economy, has offered investors hope that it could soften the toll from higher interest rates on global stock markets and unblock supply chains amid a dark outlook for 2023. Chinese authorities said late on Monday that inbound travellers would not have to quarantine on arrival, from 8 January onward. The announcement marked the latest in a series of steps to reopen the country, which is home to vital global supply chains and 1.4 billion…
Rush to book flights as China eases Covid rules and borders set to open
Chinese people, cut off from the rest of the world for three years by Covid-19 curbs, flocked to travel sites ahead of borders reopening, even as rising infections further strained the health system and hurt the economy. In a major step, China will stop requiring inbound travellers to go into quarantine from 8 January the National Health Commission said late on Monday. Asian markets rose on Tuesday on hopes for the revival of the world’s second-largest economy. Data from travel platform Ctrip showed that within half an hour of the…
China starts to drop quarantine requirement for overseas passengers
China will drop Covid-19 quarantine requirements for passengers arriving from abroad from 8 January, its National Health Commission has announced in the latest easing of the country’s once-strict virus-control measures. Currently, arriving passengers must quarantine for five days at a hotel, followed by three days at home. At one stage there was a requirement to quarantine for three weeks. The scrapping of the measure is a major step toward fully reopening travel with the rest of the world, which the government severely curtailed in a bid to keep the virus…