The United States will require a negative Covid test from January 5 to all travelers who come by plane from China, due to the explosion in the number of cases in this country and the lack of information communicated by Beijing, an official announced on Wednesday. US official.
Starting Jan. 5, “all air travelers 2 years of age or older from China will be required to take a test no more than two days before departure,” regardless of their nationality or vaccination status, the health official said. .
The measure also applies to passengers from Hong Kong and Macao, according to the statement.
The fear of new variants
The United States is particularly concerned that the rapid transmission of the virus in China will lead to the emergence of new variants. A US official criticized “the lack of adequate and transparent sequencing data” provided by China.
In addition, “the testing and counting of new cases has decreased” in this country, he stressed. “Based on this lack of available data, it is more difficult for US health officials to identify new variants circulating within the United States.”
The evidence will have to be presented to the airlines at the time of departure, he said. PCR or antigen tests will be accepted, as well as proof of having recovered from Covid-19 after testing positive more than 10 days before the flight.
This decision follows similar announcements by several countries, including Japan, India and Italy, which have also imposed mandatory testing on arriving Chinese.
Source: BFM TV
