The United States will impose mandatory COVID-19 tests on travellers from China, joining India, Italy, Japan and Taiwan in taking new measures after Beijing’s decision to lift stringent zero-COVID policies.
| The United States will impose mandatory COVID-19 tests on travellers from China, US health officials said on Wednesday , joining India, Italy, Japan and Taiwan in taking new measures afterThe officials told reporters that beginning on January 5, all air passengers two years old and older will require a negative result from a test no more than two days before departure from China, Hong Kong or Macao.
Italy is desperate to avoid a repeat of March 2020, when it became the first European country to face a serious outbreak of the virus and imposed a nationwide lockdown.Although Italy lifted mandatory testing requirements this year, the prospect of an influx of tourists potentially carrying the virus – as well as possible future variants – have led to them being reinstated.
The lifting of restrictions, following widespread protests against them, means COVID-19 is spreading largely unchecked and likely infecting millions of people a day, according to some international health experts.Beijing has faced international criticism that its official COVID-19 data and its tally of deaths are inconsistent with the scale of its outbreak.
Earlier this week, US officials cited “the lack of transparent data” from China, a persistent complaint from Washington about China’s handling of the pandemic, as a reason for considering its own travel restrictions.China has struggled to vaccinate its elderly population and has yet to authorise foreign mRNA vaccines. Its overall vaccination rate is above 90 per cent but the rate for adults who have had booster shots drops to 57.9 per cent, and to 42.
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