The government announced Friday that France would impose a negative test on travelers departing from China. The exact date of implementation of this measure is unknown.
Faced with the explosion of cases of coronavirus infections in China, France joins Italy and Spain among the European countries that impose restrictions.
Travelers must bring proof of a negative test within the last 48 hours upon boarding. Additional tests will be performed on arrival on a random basis, starting January 1, 2023. Positive samples will be sequenced to detect new virus variants. On planes coming from China, travelers must also wear a mask.
Despite the rebound in the epidemic, the Chinese authorities will end mandatory quarantines upon arrival in the country on January 8 and allow Chinese people to travel abroad, after three years of frustration.
As a precaution, the United States and several countries, including Japan, have announced that they will require negative tests for passengers coming from China. Neighboring South Korea made the same decision on Friday, effective until “February next year,” its prime minister Han Duck-soo said.
“Understandable” measures, according to the WHO
These measures are “understandable” given the lack of information provided by Beijing, said the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“In the absence of full information from China, it is understandable that countries take measures that they believe will protect their people,” he said.
China’s health authorities said Thursday that they had always released data “in a desire for openness and transparency,” according to comments quoted by the official China News agency.
On Friday, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced just 5,515 new cases and one death. Figures that no longer seem to reflect reality, however, since widespread screening is no longer mandatory.
>> More information to come on BFMTV.com
Source: BFM TV
