The Twenty-seven urge random tests on passengers arriving from the Asian country
They also advise sequencing the data of positive people and wastewater from airports
The European Union has recommended to the Member States that they require the travelers from China that arrive in community territory a negative covid-19 test performed no more than 48 hours before leaving the Asian country.
In a meeting held this Wednesday, health experts from the Twenty-seven have discussed the situation of the covid-19 in China and have discussed proposals to reach a common approach and “promptly take the necessary measures“after the peak of infections in recent days, as explained by the Swedish Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health, Jakob Forssmed, at the end of the meeting.
“Member States are strongly recommended to introduce, for all passengers coming from China (…) the requirement of a negative covid-19 test carried out no more than 48 hours before departure” from the Asian country, says a statement released after a meeting of the Integrated Political Crisis Response (IPCR) group.
In this meeting, in which community institutions and other experts participate in addition to the countries of the bloc, the EU has agreed on “a coordinated precautionary approach” on the measures to be imposed on travelers from China, in light of the coronavirus situation in that country and taking into account “the need for sufficient and reliable data and the relaxation of travel restrictions by Beijing as of next January 8.
Member States have also agreed to recommend to all passengers on flights to and from China the use of masks.
Likewise, they have committed to “issue recommendations to incoming and outgoing international travelers with origin or destination in China” and to aircraft and airport personnel, in relation to security measures. hygiene personal and health
It has also been encouraged to complement these measures with random testing of passengers upon arrival in the EU and carrying out the sequencing of all positive results, to reinforce surveillance of the epidemiological situation. The Spanish Ministry of Health has anticipated this and this Tuesday has announced that it will monitor the samples of Chinese travelers who test positive.
Countries have also been invited to carry out tests and the wastewater sequencing airports with international flights and aircraft arriving from China.
New meeting in mid-January
Finally, the EU has agreed to continue promoting the vaccinesincluding booster doses, particularly among vulnerable groups.
The Integrated Policy Crisis Response group will continue to monitor the epidemiological situation in the EU and in China to ensure European coordination of any measures deemed necessary. Member States will reassess the situation and review the measures introduced in mid-January.
stop contagion
On Tuesday, at a meeting of experts from the Health Security Committee in Brussels, it was recorded that a vast majority of Member States, including Spain, France and Italy, supported the idea of requesting covid-19 tests from all travelers coming from China even before leaving the country.
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In recent days, several countries -mainly in Asia but also the United States and some Europeans such as Spain- had already begun to require a negative coronavirus test or the full vaccination schedule to allow the entry of travelers from China, where It has registered an explosion of infections in recent weeks after the withdrawal of most restrictions.
For its part, the Government of China had described as “unacceptable” the measures that some countries had begun to adopt to control the arrival of travelers from the country, alleging that there are no scientific arguments that justify the restrictions approved by governments such as Spain’s.