‘Overwhelming majority’ of EU wants Covid tests on passengers from China
- Officials will meet again on Wednesday to decide what coordinated measures will be applied across the bloc in wake of China lifting its zero-Covid policy
- Several EU countries including France, Spain and Italy have already imposed testing requirements on arrivals from China, prompting anger from Beijing
An “overwhelming majority” of the EU’s 27 member countries want passengers coming from China to be systematically tested for Covid-19 before departure, the European Commission said on Tuesday.
The consensus recommendation emerged from a meeting of EU health ministry officials held on Tuesday in Brussels.
A crisis meeting to be held Wednesday on the issue will decide what coordinated measures will be applied across the bloc.
The gatherings were called in the wake of China deciding to lift its zero-Covid policy, which has sparked massive demand for flights to other parts of the world by Chinese citizens and residents who had been grounded for nearly three years.
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Chinese man wears ‘tent’ to shield himself from Covid
The European Union fears a sudden influx of passengers from China could bring Covid-19 variants that may be able to evade current vaccines.