Travelers from China now face restrictions when entering more than a dozen countries, as concern mounts about rising cases of “Covid-19” in this Asian country of 1.4 billion, after Australia joined the United States, Japan, Canada and many European countries that have become They require a negative test for the virus to be shown before arriving at their airports.
On Sunday, Australian Health Minister Mark Butler said that Beijing's "lack of comprehensive information" about coronavirus infections is the reason behind the new measures that will be imposed on people coming from China, which will enter into force on January 5, noting that this measure aims to "Protecting Australia from the threat of potential new variants".
In recent days, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have also imposed new travel requirements requiring arrivals from China to show a negative virus test or undergo a test upon arrival.
Canada justified its decision by the "limited available epidemiological and viral genetic sequencing data" regarding recent cases of coronavirus in China.
Also, Morocco announced yesterday, Saturday, the ban on entry of travelers from China to its lands, starting from January 3, to “avoid a new wave of infection” with the Corona virus.
The World Health Organization called these precautionary measures "understandable" in light of the lack of information about the current wave of the epidemic provided by Beijing.
However, the European branch of Airports Council International, which represents more than 500 airports in 55 European countries, said the restrictions were not justified or based on risks.
In the context, European countries will meet next week to discuss a joint response to this issue, with Sweden, which currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union, stating that it "seeks for the European Union to have a common policy when it comes to adopting possible entry restrictions."
A glimmer of hope
For his part, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a televised speech on the occasion of the New Year that "the prevention and control of the epidemic is entering a new stage, and we are still in a difficult situation," adding that "a glimmer of hope lies ahead."
And this is the second comment about the epidemic that the Chinese president makes.
Last week, Xi called for measures to "effectively protect people's lives."
Despite the high number of injuries, large crowds gathered to celebrate New Year's Eve in Shanghai and Wuhan, although some social media users said that the celebrations appeared more subdued than in previous years.
Today, Sunday, the country's authorities reported more than 5,000 positive cases and an additional death related to "Covid-19".
And last month, Beijing abruptly put an end to its strict "zero Covid" policy that includes comprehensive lockdowns and testing, 3 years after the coronavirus first appeared.
Since March 2020, all travelers arriving in China have had to adhere to a mandatory 3-week quarantine initially before reducing it to one week last June, then 5 days last month.