The Australian government also cited the “lack of comprehensive information” from China on Sunday. The regulation, which comes into force on January 5, is designed to protect Australia “from the risk of possible new variants,” Health Minister Mark Butler said.
The Canadian government also complained about “limited” data on Covid cases in China. In addition to the negative corona tests, the waste water from all international flights landing in Vancouver or Toronto must also be checked for new Covid variants.
Beijing backed off from its strict zero-Covid policy in a radical U-turn in early December and has since lifted most of its corona restrictions. Since then, the number of corona infections in China has increased enormously. A few days ago, Beijing also announced the end of the quarantine requirement for returnees from abroad, sparking a stampede on airline tickets.
Several countries have ordered mandatory corona tests for travelers coming from China in recent days, including France, Italy and Spain, as well as the US. Germany, on the other hand, has so far refrained from taking such a measure.
The World Health Organization (WHO) asked China on Friday to be more transparent about the rapid increase in corona cases.
(SDA)