EU wants Chinese visitors to give negative Covid test and wear mask on plane
- Bloc also asking its members to increase testing of waste water from airports and aircraft to monitor potential new coronavirus variants
- Measures are ‘something which we saw the overwhelming majority of countries are in favour of’, says European Commission spokesman
EU capitals have also been asked to step up the “testing and sequencing of waste water from airports with international flights and aircraft arriving from China” to monitor for potential new variants of the coronavirus.
“The member states are strongly encouraged to introduce, for all passengers departing from China to member states, the requirement for a negative Covid-19 test taken not more than 48 hours prior to departure from China,” read a statement issued by the Swedish presidency of the EU.
EU members were also encouraged to do “random testing of passengers arriving from China on arrival” and to sequence positive results.
The measures will begin on January 8 and be reviewed by the middle of the month. The EU will consider “the level of data shared” by China when reviewing its policies, amid concerns in Europe that Beijing is obfuscating the outbreak’s true picture.