The governments of France and the United Kingdom announced this Saturday that they would impose Covid-19 tests on travelers arriving from mainland China, starting on January 5, and joining Italy, Spain, Japan, Israel or the United States.
The British Ministry of Health, in a statement released, confirmed that travelers from China must enter the UK from January 5 if they test negative for Covid-19 before leaving the Asian country. .
In the document, the British government says that, for now, the requirement only applies to passengers arriving from China on direct flights to English airports. Although there are currently no direct services from that country to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, the British administration is working with governments to expand operations to the whole of England.
This morning, the French government issued a decree specifying the effective dates of the measures announced by the executive on Friday night for travelers departing from China from January 5.
The measures, which will be in place until January 31, will require random PCR tests to be carried out on arrival in France from Sunday and the mandatory use of a mask for passengers over the age of six on flights departing from China.
According to the decree, starting January 5, passengers over 11 years of age arriving by air from China must submit a negative test upon departure and within 48 hours of boarding.
“These travelers should undergo a random screening test upon arrival in the national territory and self-isolate in case of a positive result,” the text said.
The Asian giant introduced tighter restrictions on flights after Beijing confirmed it would reopen borders on January 8 for the first time since March 2020.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, speaking today, assured that “the light of hope lies ahead for the Chinese” as their country faces an explosion in Covid-19 cases after the lifting of health restrictions.
“The prevention and control of infectious diseases has entered a new phase. “We are still in a difficult moment”, but “the light of hope is before us”, Xi Jinping said in a New Year’s address, televised in the country.
In Portugal, the health minister announced to the Lusa agency on Friday that he was preparing measures to control travelers from China at airports, which would be activated when “alarms” are refused, if necessary. A view of recent epidemics in the Chinese population.
According to the minister, the government is monitoring the evolution of Covid-19 in China, which is “worrying”, “maintaining close dialogue with other European countries, namely within the framework of the European Union and with international health organizations”.
On the same day, the European Commission recognized an “alarming” increase in Covid-19 cases in China and recommended surveillance measures to member states.
In a letter sent to the health ministers of the EU’s 27 countries, Europa Press quoted European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakites as saying that Brussels is “focusing on improvements” that it considers to be ready, however, there are currently no common measures.
The Directorate-General for Health, in its weekly report on respiratory viruses, acknowledges that the daily increase in the number of SARS-CoV-2 infections in China in recent days is “a situation that should be closely monitored in the coming period.” Weeks”.
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