UK to require COVID negative tests for arrivals from China
World
UK said that passengers arriving in Britain from China will require a negative COVID-19 test.
LONDON (Reuters) - The UK said on Friday that passengers arriving in Britain from China will require a negative COVID-19 test after a surge in infections in China.
Starting on Jan. 5, Chinese travellers will need to show a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than two days prior to departure, UK s Department of Health and Social Care said in a statement.
The move comes after doubts over the transparency of official data from Beijing raised concerns about a wave of infections.
Airlines will be required to check all passengers from China for tests, and passengers will not be allowed to board a flight without providing evidence of a negative test result, it added.
The UK joins other countries, including the United States and India, to impose COVID-19 tests for travellers from China. France, South Korea and Spain have also done so.
The Timesand The Telegraph on Friday reported that British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had weighed in to take the step.
The BBC had earlier reported that the UK government was set to announce the China arrival policy, without providing a specific time.
UK officials had said on Thursday that the government was reviewing whether to impose restrictions on people arriving from China.
Chinese state media on Friday called the imposition of COVID tests by various countries on travellers arriving from China "discriminatory".
China has rejected criticism of its COVID-19 statistics and said it expects mutations to be more infectious but less severe.
France to impose mandatory COVID tests for travellers from China
France will require travellers from China to provide a negative COVID-19 test result less than 48 hours before departure, the health and transport ministries said on Friday.
The test will be required on all flights from China, including flights with stopovers. Travellers on airplanes arriving from China will also have to wear masks.
Having kept its borders all but shut for three years, imposing a strict regime of lockdowns and relentless testing, Beijing abruptly reversed course toward living with the virus on Dec. 7, and infections have spread rapidly in recent weeks.
France did not set a start date for the measures but will publish a government decree and notify European Union member states, the ministries said.
A government source told Reuters it would take "a little while" for the mandatory testing to be put in place.
From Jan. 1, France will also carry out random PCR COVID tests upon arrival on some travellers coming from China, a government official told reporters.
The government also recommended that people with weak immune systems delay non-essential travel to China.
South Korea and Spain on Friday joined a growing list of countries, including the United States, India and others, which have imposed COVID tests for travellers from China.
