Japan, Taiwan, Italy and the US are again obliging corona tests for travelers from China. Our country is not imposing any restrictions for the Chinese for the time being, where the zero-covid policy no longer applies and a severe corona wave has therefore broken out. The Belgian population is well protected by vaccination, whether or not in combination with a previous corona infection. This is reported by the cabinet of Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit).
The fact that China has abruptly abandoned the zero-covid policy and Chinese people are allowed to travel freely again from January 8 is causing concern worldwide. Japan and Taiwan will introduce a mandatory PCR test for travelers from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau from January. The United States will also apply that rule from January 5. A negative test must not be older than two days before departure. Chinese travelers will also be required to take a test in Italy.
Immunity high enough
In Belgium, these measures are not currently under discussion, the Vandenbroucke cabinet says. In our country, the protection provided by the corona vaccines is high enough and many people have already experienced an infection, it sounds. In addition, there are currently no indications for a new variant. This means that the situation in China is currently not a threat to our country, according to the government.
With this, the government does not respond to the question of Bruges mayor Dirk De fauw, who earlier today argued for entry restrictions for Chinese people. Bruges traditionally has a large number of Chinese tourists. “Some 100,000 to 150,000 visitors from China come to our city every year,” says De fauw.
LOOK. Bruges mayor Dirk De fauw wants proof of vaccination for Chinese tourists
Travel to China not recommended
The Belgian government is closely monitoring the situation and is mainly focusing on the advice of the European center for disease prevention and control ECDC, says Vandenbroucke. “From contacts we have had today, it appears that ECDC will not change the assessment for the time being.” The center is still arguing against entry restrictions from China. There will be a meeting of the Health Security Committee at European level on Thursday. In the meantime, Vandenbroucke has requested an update of the latest advice from the RAG, the Risk Assessment Group.
Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib (MR) is also not planning additional measures for the time being. However, non-essential travel from Belgians to China is not recommended “until the situation stabilises”. The reason for this is that there is no official information available about the number of infections or the occupancy rate of hospitals in China and there are no clear measures.
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