EU. Urges nations to require negative Covid tests for travelers from China

In a difficult diplomatic move, the bloc has advised its 27 members to put restrictions in place as Chinese tourists prepare to return to destinations world.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">BRUSSELS – The European Union on Wednesday “strongly encouraged” its 27 member countries to require a negative Covid-19 test for travelers boarding flights from from China to the region, amid a rise in coronavirus cases in the country and Beijing lifting its draconian travel restrictions.

The bloc's recommendation , a bid for a unified policy, came after three major European tourist destinations - France, Italy and Spain - along with Britain, introduced testing and other requirements for travelers from China .

E.U. the move would bring back a difficult pandemic-era measure for travelers that the tourism and aviation industries hoped would be a thing of the past.

Countries in European Union "are strongly encouraged to introduce, for all passengers departing from China to Member States, the requirement of a negative Covid-19 test carried out no later than 48 hours before departure from China", indicates the notice.

The statement came from a committee made up of health officials from all 27 nations, as well as health experts and advisers. an announcement from the United States in late December that travelers from China must test negative within two days of departure.

EU. panel, which met regularly to set bloc-wide policies regarding travel requirements throughout the lo ng of the pandemic, pledged to meet again later this month to assess the situation.

"The member states have agreed on a coordinated precautionary approach in light of Covid-19 developments in China, particularly given the need for sufficient and reliable data and China's easing of travel restrictions from January 8," the statement said. committee.

The decision brings a sense of deja vu to Europe, where the worst of the pandemic has been largely brought under control after more than two million deaths, economic devastation and, ultimately, an extensive and costly vaccination campaign.

It also threatens to further strain relations between the EU and China, which are already strained due to of China's implicit support for Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.

Le go de Pék in The government has denounced new Covid testing requirements imposed by other countries on travelers from China as unscientific or "excessive" and threatened to take countermeasures.

Many experts and the World Health Organization have long argued that travel restrictions are not a particularly effective way to control the spread of the coronavirus. And introducing strict requirements for travelers can be logistically burdensome, discriminatory and politically toxic.

Yet WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said last week such moves were "understandable" given China's lack of transparency over its Covid data.

"In the absence comprehensive information from China, it is understandable that countries around the world are acting in ways they believe can protect their populations,” Tedros wrote on Twitter.

ImageTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, center, director-general of the World Health Organization, said last week that restrictions on travelers from China were "under...