Most European Union countries have supported the introduction of pre-departure COVID -19 testing for travelers from China, as Beijing plans to lift travel restrictions on its citizens despite a wave of COVID-19 infections.
The common European Union approach emerged after a meeting yesterday of the Health Security Committee, an European Union advisory body of national health experts from the body’s twenty-seven countries, chaired by the Commission.
The Commission yesterday prepared a draft proposal for the talks, which included a recommendation for mask-wearing on flights from China, wastewater monitoring for aircraft arriving from China, genomic surveillance at airports and increased European Union vigilance on testing and vaccination.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said last week it did not currently recommend measures for travelers from China.
It said the variants circulating in China were already in the European Union, that European citizens had relatively high vaccination levels and that the potential for imported infections was low compared with daily infections in the European Union, with healthcare systems currently coping.
