- U.S., Japan, others require COVID tests from Chinese visitors
- EU experts to hold crisis meeting next week
- WHO, China discuss pandemic
BEIJING/MADRID, Dec 30 (Reuters) – Chinese state-media have railed against the growing number of foreign governments imposing COVID tests on travellers from China, calling the measures “discriminatory.”
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.
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 over concerns about the scale of its COVID outbreak and scepticism over Beijing’s health statistics.
Malaysia said it would screen all international arrivals for fever.
“The real intention is to sabotage China’s three years of COVID-19 control efforts and attack the country’s system,” state-run tabloid Global Times said in an article late on Thursday, calling the restrictions “unfounded” and “discriminatory.”
China will stop requiring inbound travellers to go into quarantine from Jan. 8. But it will still demand a negative PCR test result within 48 hours before departure.
Senior Chinese health officials held a video conference with the World Health Organization on Friday and exchanged views the current epidemic situation, China’s National Health Commission said in a statement without elaborating further.
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