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Agencies

Canada on Saturday said it will require travellers on Canadian-bound flights departing China to test negative for Covid-19, amid concern over the country’s explosion of coronavirus cases.
The requirements, which take effect at 12.01am on Thursday, apply to all travellers two years of age and older arriving on flights in Canada originating from mainland China, Hong Kong or Macao.
Travellers will be required to provide evidence of a negative Covid-19 test result, taken no more than two days before departure, to the airline prior to boarding.
The temporary measure will be in place for 30 days and be reassessed as more data becomes available, the Canadian government said.


EU countries, meanwhile, will meet next week to discuss a joint response to travellers from China, incoming EU presidency holder Sweden announced on Saturday.
“Sweden is seeking a common policy for the entire EU when it comes to the introduction of possible entry restrictions”, the Swedish government said in a statement.
Stockholm, which takes over the rotating EU presidency on January 1, said it had called a meeting of the Council’s crisis management mechanism IPCR for Wednesday. “It is important that we quickly get the necessary measures in place”, it said.
Beijing has abruptly ended its draconian “zero Covid” policy, resulting in an explosion of infections in the country, which has prompted several EU member states to impose Covid-19 tests on travellers from China.
EU health agency deems China Covid-19 traveller screening ‘unjustified’
France, Italy and Spain this week imposed Covid-19 testing requirements. Germany, while saying it saw no need to impose routine tests, is seeking a coordinated system to monitor variants across European airports.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), one of the EU’s health agencies, said on Thursday that systematic screening of travellers was currently “unjustified”. It cited the level of immunity in Europe and the presence on the continent of the same variants as in China.
The European branch of the International Airports Council said on Saturday that imposing restrictions for travellers from China country was “neither scientifically justified nor risk based”.
The federation, which represents more than 500 airports in 55 European countries, said the identification of possible new variants that could emerge in China could be detected with genomic sequencing of airport waste water analysis, without the need to test travellers.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse


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Coronavirus pandemic

Canada requires China travellers to test negative for Covid

A passenger who arrived on a flight from Beijing listens to indications from a Civil Guard after landing at Spain’s Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport on Saturday. Photo: AFP

UK and France to require negative Covid test for China travellers

A woman pushes luggage near a check-in counter at Beijing Capital International Airport on Friday. Photo: Bloomberg

WHO urges China to share more information on surging Covid-19 infections

The World Health Organization logo at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Photo: AP

Relatives gather near the bed of a patient in the emergency department at Langfang No 4 People’s Hospital in Bazhou, Hebei province, on December 22. Photo: AP

Coronavirus: US screening policy for travellers from China sparks anger, questions on effectiveness

In this file photo taken on December 3, 2021, the flight crew from Air China arrive in hazmat suits in the international terminal at Los Angeles International Airport. The US will require negative Covid tests from all air travelers from China, saying Beijing is not sharing enough information about the surge in coronavirus cases there. Photo: AFP

Passengers wait in a queue at the Malpensa Airport in Milan, Italy on Thursday. Italy has ordered Covid-19 antigen swabs and virus sequencing for all travellers coming from China, where cases are surging. Photo: Reuters

Travellers walk with their luggage at Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday amid the Covid-19 outbreak. Photo: Reuters

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Canada’s new rules take effect on Thursday and apply to everyone two years of age and older arriving on flights from mainland China, Hong Kong or Macao
Meanwhile, the EU will meet on January 4 to discuss a possible joint response from the bloc amid concerns over rising Covid cases in the Asian country



Meanwhile, the EU will meet on January 4 to discuss a possible joint response from the bloc amid concerns over rising Covid cases in the Asian country.
