European Union Recommends Testing for COVID-19 Before Flight Departure from China, Passengers Must Wear Masks

Illustration of random PCR tests in China. (Wikimedia Commons/Shuwangtimanyuan)

JAKARTA - European Union government officials recommended on Wednesday that passengers flying from China to the European Union should undergo a negative COVID-19 test before they board their plane, as Beijing plans to ease travel restrictions despite a new wave of COVID infections.

The recommendations come from the European Union's Integrated Political Crisis Response (IPCR) group, a body composed of officials from the EU's 27 members, and are in line with recommendations previously made by the European Commission, reported Reuters, January 5.

It is understood China plans to ease travel restrictions on January 8, even though a new wave of infections has overwhelmed China's hospitals and funeral homes.

The IPCR also recommends that all passengers on flights to and from China wear face masks. European Union governments are also enforcing random testing of passengers arriving from China, testing and sequencing wastewater at airports on international flights and planes arriving from China.

The IPCR said, together with the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC), the Commission's foreign affairs department and the World Health Organization (WHO) would continue to monitor the epidemiological situation in the European Union and developments in China.

"Member states agreed to assess the situation and review the measures introduced in mid-January 2023," the IPCR said in a statement.

The European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) said last week it was not currently recommending action on travelers from China, because the variant circulating in China was already in the European Union.

The ECDC also said EU citizens have relatively high vaccination rates, while the potential for imported infections is low compared to daily infections in the EU, with the health care system currently coping with it.