Persons are seen waiting on the arrivals area of terminal 5 at Heathrow International airport.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
LONDON — The U.K. and France said Thursday morning they currently had no plans to reintroduce mandatory Covid-19 tests or additional requirements for travelers arriving into the country.
It comes as several nations announced recent measures in response to China’s rest of Covid restrictions amid a suspected surge of infections but reduced domestic testing. Beijing on Monday dropped its quarantine on arrival policy, leading many to book their first overseas trips in years.
Italy, the middle of Europe’s initial outbreak in early 2020, on Wednesday became the primary country within the region to announce that mandatory antigen swabs could be required of all travelers coming from China.
On one Dec. 26 flight from China into Milan’s Malpensa Airport, 52% of passengers tested positive for Covid, la Repubblica reported.
European Union health officials were locked in talks Thursday to attempt to coordinate a response.
“From a scientific viewpoint, there is no such thing as a reason at this stage to bring back controls on the borders,” Brigitte Autran, head of the French health risk assessment committee COVARS, said on France’s Radio Classique, in line with a Reuters report.
German and Austrian officials on Wednesday also appeared reluctant to introduce recent restrictions.
But Italy’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases reportedly called for a rise in testing for those arriving from China. “It could be higher if the coordination of surveillance should happen at European level,” the institute said, in line with a translation by the Ansa news agency.
“Italy can’t be the one country to perform anti-Covid checks at airports for those arriving from China,” Italian Transport Minister Matteo Salvini said on Twitter, per a Google translation.
He added that he was in touch with Adina Vălean, transport commissioner for the EU, and was calling for checks and possible limitations to be applied throughout Europe to avoid an influx of Covid cases from arriving passengers.
The U.S. said from Jan. 5. all arrivals from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau must supply a negative Covid test taken inside two days of departure.
India would require a negative test from passengers arriving from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand, with passengers put into quarantine in the event that they have a positive test or display Covid symptoms. Japan will perform tests on arrival for passengers from mainland China, Reuters reported.
While the U.K. government said there have been no plans to reintroduce Covid tests or additional requirements for arrivals into the country, it said it might monitor the situation through Thursday.
It could announce a change in policy, especially if a wave of other European countries reintroduce testing.
Officials have cited an absence of published information from China on recent variants as a reason to strengthen precautions.
Beijing says its latest outbreak is right down to the highly transmissible, but less deadly, omicron variant. But an absence of knowledge and the country’s track record of obfuscating reality has meant that many countries are taking a cautious approach.
