The vast majority of the countries of the European Union are committed to requesting Covid-19 tests for all travelers from China even before leaving the country as response to the rise of infections in the Asian giant.
They are also inclined to recommend personal hygiene measures for travelers, including a recommendation for wear a mask on flights from Chinathe sewage control of the planes, monitor the entry of new variants at airports and improve virus sequencing, among other measures.
These are the ideas on which the experts of the Member States have “agreed” at their meeting on Tuesday, as summarized on the social network Twitter by the Health Commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, once the meeting ended.
Today ?? Health Security Committee converged on action including:
▶️Pre-departure testing for travelers from China
▶️Stepped up wastewater monitoring
▶️Increased domestic surveillanceDiscussion continues tomorrow in IPCR.
?? unity remains our strongest tool against COVID.
— Stella Kyriakides (@SKyriakidesEU) January 3, 2023
At that meeting, a discussion arose about the need to require Covid-19 tests for passengers coming from China who are carried out even before leaving the country Asian, a possibility supported by a “vast majority” of Member States, explained a community spokesman.
In any case, the spokesman stressed that the measures adopted “should be focused on the most suitable flights and airports and be carried out in a coordinated manner to guarantee their effectiveness.”
A health worker performs a coronavirus test in Beijing.
Reuters
The discussions will continue this Wednesday, explained the Cypriot, at a meeting of the Integrated Political Crisis Response (IPCR) group, in which representatives of the European institutions, Member States and other experts participate, with a view to the possible decision of concrete decisions.
“Unity continues to be our main tool against covid-19,” said Kyriakides, head of Health of the European Commission, an institution that in recent times has stressed the need for the Twenty-seven to coordinate their response to the increase in infections in China.
[La Unión Europea ofrece vacunas gratuitas a China para hacer frente a su peor brote de Covid]
Since the increase in infections in China became known, different partners of the community bloc, including Spainhave reestablished controls for travelers from the Asian country, although others, such as Belgium, have chosen not to require travelers from this country to carry out a test.
The meeting of the health experts of the Member States this Tuesday coincided with a report from the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) in which this body concludes again that the rise in coronavirus cases in China does not initially imply a “challenge” for the countries of the European Union (EU) due to the fact that they are the same variants that already circulate in the continent and due to the high immunity and vaccination rates.
[La última semana de cuarentena en China desata la tensión en el aeropuerto de Guangzhou]
