Australia is to introduce COVID-19 test requirements for arrivals from China — after skyrocketing COVID-19 case numbers — joining a range of other countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States and France.
"That lack of comprehensive information has led a number of countries in recent days to put in place various measures — not to restrict travel from China, it's important to say — but to gather better information about what is happening epidemiologically in that country," he said.
Mr Butler said the government warmly welcomes visitors from China, and Australia was "well positioned right now in the fight against COVID". "The resumption of travel between China and Australia poses no immediate public health threat to Australians," he said. Mr Butler said universities and the tourism industry will also welcome the resumption of travel from China, as would people who have long been separated from their family and friends.
"We know there are many many hundreds of thousands of Chinese Australians who have been unable to see family and friends for months — and, in some cases, years — and their ability to do that over the coming period will be a matter of considerable joy for them, particularly as we head into the Lunar New Year period," he said.
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