Australia, Japan want China arrivals to Covid test. New Zealand doesn’t. Malaysia won’t ‘discriminate’. And Thailand?
- Australia’s government on Wednesday defended ramping up testing for travellers from China, as Japan said it would too
- It came as Thailand said it was preparing for Chinese visitor numbers this year to return to about half of pre-pandemic levels
From Thursday, travellers from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau will need to test negative no more than 48 hours before departing for Australia.
Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly advised the government against the requirement, writing in a government briefing that it lacked “sufficient public health rationale”.
“There is strong consensus that implementation of any restrictions to travel from China at this time would be inconsistent with the current national approach to the management of Covid-19 and disproportionate to the risk,” he wrote.
But Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday said the government was acting “out of an abundance of caution”.
“It’s about a part of the world where we have concerns about transparency,” he told national broadcaster ABC.
‘Overwhelming majority’ of EU wants Covid tests on passengers from China
Asked if the restrictions were politically motivated, Chalmers said he didn’t “see it precisely like that”.
“There certainly is a lot of concern around the global health community about the transparency and quality of data that we see out of China on Covid,” he said.
Data compiled by the World Health Organization shows no fresh Covid figures from China for more than a week.
Japan to require pre-departure tests. New Zealand won’t
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday that the country will toughen its border control measures for travellers from China, effective from January 8.
Additional measures will require pre-boarding negative Covid test results for passengers on direct flights from China, Kishida said, strengthening the existing emergency measures Japan started on December 30.
Japan will also continue to ask airlines to limit additional flights from China, Kishida told a nationally televised news conference.
New Zealand officials have carried out a public health risk assessment including working through scenarios of potential case numbers among travellers from China, Covid-19 Response Minister Ayesha Verrall said on Wednesday in Wellington.
The work “confirmed these visitors won’t contribute significantly to our Covid case numbers meaning entry restrictions aren’t required or justified,” she said.
New Zealand has a great relationship with China. But for how much longer?
China is New Zealand’s largest trading partner and before the pandemic a key source of tourists.
Verrall said the prevalent variant in China hasn’t caused significant outbreaks in countries that, like New Zealand, have already been exposed to the BA5 variant.
“So public health measures are not required to protect New Zealanders,” she said.
The government will ask a sample of Chinese travellers to voluntarily submit results of rapid antigen tests to assist in tracking any new variants, and reiterated that any international traveller should test if they become symptomatic after arrival.
Malaysia not in a ‘position to discriminate’
“We do not have any position to discriminate against any country. While there are high infections in China, we also know that the death rate is high in the United States, as with some other nations,” he said in answer to a question on restrictions. “Anyone who enters [Malaysia] must be monitored and subjected to the same conditions.”
Last year, Malaysia received some 336,000 visitors from China – predominately tourists – according to government data.
“In December alone, we received 53,000 visitors from China and we did not see a surge in infections linked to any nation,” Anwar said. “But this does not mean we will give leeway to any nation, including China. We have to monitor [the situation] according to our needs and interests.”
Thailand expects at least 5 million Chinese tourists
Meanwhile, the Thai government’s tourism body has said it is expecting at least five million Chinese tourist arrivals this year – about half the number recorded before the coronavirus pandemic.
“We expect some 300,000 Chinese tourists to come in the first quarter of this year,” said Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. That compared with 220,000 in the first 11 months of 2022.
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Foreign tourists return to Thailand, with 10 million visiting the Asian tourist hub in 2022
The government has set a target of 25 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2023, up from the 20 million earlier projected, said government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri.
Some are less optimistic about Chinese travel, however.
“It might not be as active as we’re hoping for as there are not many flights available and costs are much higher,” said Ronnarong Chewinsiriamnuai, president of the Thai-Chinese Tourism Alliance Association.
Post-Covid Thailand sees rise in foreign arrivals amid wait for Chinese tourists
That would be just a quarter of the record of nearly 40 million foreign tourists in 2019, who spent 1.91 trillion baht (US$55.5 billion).
Thailand has not yet announced any curbs on China arrivals, though its health ministry has reportedly proposed screening measures such as requiring proof of vaccination as well as valid health insurance to fully cover any Covid treatment.
Reporting by Agence France-Presse, Reuters, Bloomberg, SCMP reporters
