Coronavirus: China traveller screening ‘unjustified’ despite Covid-19 surge, says EU health agency
- The US and several other countries have introduced mandatory Covid-19 tests for travellers arriving from China after a surge in cases
- The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said such measures are not necessary for the EU as a whole
The European Union’s health agency said on Thursday it believed the introduction of mandatory Covid screenings of travellers from China was “unjustified,” despite a surge in cases in China.
The United States and several other countries have introduced mandatory Covid tests on travellers arriving from China.
But such measures are not necessary for the EU as a whole, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in a statement.
Hospitals across China have been overwhelmed by an explosion of infections following Beijing’s decision to lift rules that had largely kept the virus at bay but damaged the economy and sparked widespread protests.
China said this week it would end mandatory quarantine on arrival, prompting many Chinese to make plans to travel abroad.
However, the ECDC said it did not currently believe the surge in cases in China would affect the epidemiological situation in the EU “given higher population immunity in the EU/EEA, as well as the prior emergence and subsequent replacement of variants currently circulating in China”.
Consequently, the agency considered “screenings and travel measures on travellers from China unjustified”.