The United States is the latest nation to require Covid testing for Chinese travelers after Beijing stated it would reopen its borders the following week.
Italy, Japan, Taiwan, and India have also announced mandatory testing, while Australia and the United Kingdom have stated that there are no new requirements for Chinese travelers.
China will allow citizens to travel more freely beginning January 8 after three years of isolation.
However, the country’s continuous Covid expansion has aroused apprehension.
China reports approximately 5,000 cases each day, but analysts estimate that this number is grossly understated and that the true daily case burden may be closer to one million. According to accounts, hospitals are overcrowded and citizens are unable to obtain even the most basic medications.
The United States stated on Wednesday that a lack of “sufficient and transparent” Covid data in China was a factor in the decision to mandate Covid tests beginning on January 5 for travelers from China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this is necessary “as we try to detect… any potential new variations that may emerge”
However, Beijing’s foreign ministry warned on Wednesday that coronavirus regulations should only be implemented based on “scientific” evidence and accused Western nations and the media of “hyping up” the problem.
Some individuals displayed anger on China’s banned social media.
“I believed that all foreign nations had opened up. Is this not racism?” Read one Weibo comment that received 3,000 likes. The United States has mandated testing for all travelers arriving from China or via a third country, regardless of nationality.
Others, though, stated that they understood the rationale behind the limits: “This is nothing compared to all the restrictions we had for individuals entering China,” one user wrote.
Beijing’s decision to lift quarantine for arrivals was only revealed on Monday, thereby reopening transit into and out of the country for the first time since March 2020. Before this week, all individuals entering China were subject to quarantine in governmental facilities.
Before the pandemic, China was the largest outbound travel market in the world. However, it is uncertain how many Chinese will go abroad after January 8, given the limited number of flights and the fact that many nationals must renew their passports.
The international community has responded in a variety of ways, with the United Kingdom and Australia stating they were monitoring China’s Covid situation but had no plans to announce new testing standards.
Others have announced limits swiftly:
- Beginning on Friday, Chinese visitors to Japan will be screened for Covid upon arrival. Those with a positive test result will be quarantined for up to seven days.
- Additionally, the number of flights to and from China will be limited.
- Before entering India, visitors from China and four other Asian nations must present a negative Covid test. Additionally, positive travelers will be quarantined.
- Taiwan states that from 1 January to 31 January, passengers traveling on planes from China and by boat to two islands will be required to do Covid tests upon arrival.
- Positive test subjects will be able to segregate themselves at home.
Meanwhile, Malaysia has implemented supplementary tracking and surveillance procedures.
Additionally, Italy has mandated Covid testing for Chinese travelers.
The European Commission’s health security committee will meet on Thursday to consider “potential steps for a coordinated EU reaction” to China’s Covid outbreak, according to a statement.
Italy, a member of the European Union and the epicenter of the virus in late 2019 and 2020, said it will first “guarantee the surveillance and identification” of any new virus variations.
This week, flights arriving in Milan were already testing Chinese passengers. Authorities discovered that 52% of passengers on a flight that landed on December 26 were contaminated with Covid.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated that initial testing of Covid-positive travelers arriving from China revealed that 15 of them carried Omicron versions that were already present in Italy. She characterized the news as reassuring.
Italy is one of 26 European nations in the Schengen border-free zone, and Ms. Meloni is advocating for EU-wide testing of Chinese passengers, noting that Italy’s current procedures may be useless in the absence of EU-wide testing.
China’s foreign ministry stated on Wednesday that “the current epidemic situation in China is mostly predictable and under control.”
However, the exact number of daily cases and deaths in China is unknown because regulators no longer require cases to be recorded and have altered mortality classifications for Corvids. Sunday, officials announced that they would no longer release daily case counts.
Dr. Chandrakant Lahariya, an Indian epidemiologist and health systems specialist, stated that the infection increase in China is consistent with expectations.
“Cases will increase if a vulnerable population is not exposed to the virus. There has been no change in the rest of the world.”
China’s decision to reopen its borders marks the end of its controversial zero-Covid policy, which was personally backed by President Xi Jinping.
Even while the rest of the world adapted to living with the virus, Beijing persisted in an eradication campaign consisting of widespread testing and tight quarantines.
The economy suffered a setback, and as a result, the populace grew both fatigued and enraged; in November, this anger erupted into unusual demonstrations against Mr. Xi and his leadership. A week later, Beijing started removing the limitations.
