France and the United Kingdom will require travelers from China to present a negative covid-19 test before departure, French authorities and British media reported on Friday.
Before the case explosion of covid-19 in China, France and the United Kingdom joined Italy and Spain among the European countries that imposed restrictions, while the European Union (EU) was unable to speak with one voice on this matter.
In the United Kingdom, this measure by the British authorities is being advanced by the national media, reported the agency France-Presse (AFP)
In France, all travelers from China, on direct flights or with a stopover, must be accompanied by a negative testPCR or antigen, carried out less than 48 hours before departure, said a government source at a press conference.
Other tests will be carried out on arrival at random, with positive samples subject to sequencing to detect possible new variants of the virus.
Travelers will also have to ensure they self-isolate if they test positive upon arrival, the French government added. In addition, the use of a mask will be mandatory on board flights departing from China to France.
The decree of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, which establishes these restrictive measures, will be published over the weekend “and sent to the European Commission and EU Member States”, the government revealed.
The European Commission recognized on Friday the “alarming” increase in cases of covid-19 in China and recommended surveillance measures to Member Statessuch as sample sequencing.
The Portuguese government is preparing measures to control covid-19 for passengers from China, to be implemented if necessary, the Minister of Health announced on the same day, refusing “alarmisms” in view of the recent increase in infections in the Chinese population.
As he said on this governing day, the government is monitoring the evolution of covid-19 in China, which “It is a matter of concern“, maintaining a “close dialogue with other European countries, namely within the framework of the European Union and with international health bodies”.
According to Manuel Pizarro, there is only one weekly direct flight that lands in Portugal from China, but the possibility of control measures for passengers on flights with stopovers in other countries is being evaluated.
Outside the EU, countries like United States, South KoreaMalaysia, Japan and Israel have also already adopted measures in the face of the increase in cases in China, reported Efe.
Cases rise in China
The information coming from China is scarce. The daily numbers are no longer published by the Chinese National Health Commission, after it abandoned mass testing, but it is known that there are a new variant of Ómicron, the BF.7which is more transmissible and has a shorter incubation period.
Second advanced the Observerthe official count points to five thousand daily cases, but the agency Bloomberg talks about 250 million infections in the first three weeks of December alone. As for deaths, official data indicate that there were 13 in the same month. however, the criteria used in the country are not in line with the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Due to the measures of the “covid zero” policy – use of a mask, successive confinements, mass testing and mandatory quarantine for all people arriving from abroad -, the population has not built up a natural immunitywhich is acquired by exposure to the virus.
The easing of restrictions, after a series of protests, led to a new outbreak in the country, overwhelming hospitals. There are patients receiving treatments in the streets. China has only one bed in intensive care units for every 10,000 people.
In the hospital in Shanghai, some of the beds for the seriously ill with Covid are now being set up in the garage.
Video from December 28, 2022#Shanghai #ChinaCovidNews #COVID-19 #China pic.twitter.com/1wBwq3OtD0
— China Lockdown 2022 (@2022_Lockdown) December 28, 2022
However, according to the New York Timeshealth professionals are showing signs of exhaustion and are no longer being testednot knowing whether or not they are infected.
An increase in the number of infections is expected in early 2023, with the Chinese New Year celebrations approaching, between 21 and 27 January. According to the Airfinitythe peak of infections in China is expected to be reached on January 13, with 3.7 million positive cases per day.
ZAP // 
