Following Beijing's
announcement that it will reopen its borders next month, the US is thinking of
placing additional Covid restrictions on Chinese visitors.
As cases of the virus
rise in China, American authorities claim that this is because there is a lack
of openness surrounding it.
Following the
announcement of stricter regulations by India, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, and
Malaysia, Italy revealed intentions to implement obligatory testing on
Wednesday.
Beijing argued that
the introduction of coronavirus regulations should be "scientific."
Authorities in Milan,
Italy, are already screening passengers on aircraft coming from China.
On one aircraft that
arrived at the city's Malpensa Airport on Christmas Day, 52% of the passengers
tested positive for Covid, according to la Repubblica.
Officials have not
yet commented on these numbers, but health minister Orazio Schillaci announced
in a statement that he had mandated Covid-19 testing for all travelers passing
through Italy who were travelling from China.
In order to
"defend the Italian people," he added, it was "necessary to
ensure the surveillance and detection" of any new viral variations.
During the initial
Covid outbreak in Italy in 2020, the northern area of Lombardy, close to
Malpensa Airport, briefly served as the virus's worldwide epicenter after it
migrated from China.
While member states
had earlier this year agreed to lift Covid travel restrictions, a spokesperson
for the EU's Foreign Affairs said there was an agreement that, if required,
they might be reinstalled in a coordinated manner.
Additionally, she
stated that the BF7 omicron form, which is common in China, was already
existing in Europe and had not succeeded in gaining dominance.
Chinese individuals
who want to go abroad can once again apply for passports starting on January 8,
according to the nation's immigration officials.
Travel websites have
seen an increase in traffic, which has some nations concerned about the
possible spread of Covid.
According to US
authorities, who were reported by news organizations, "there are growing
worries in the international community over the continuous Covid-19 spikes in
China and the lack of transparent data, particularly viral genome sequence
data."
China's spokeswoman
for the foreign ministry, Wang Wenbin, later charged that Western nations and
the media had "hyped up" and "distorted China's Covid policy
modifications."
He stated that China
thought all nations' reactions to COVID should be "science-based and
balanced," that they shouldn't "impact regular people-to-people
trade."
Mr. Wang urged
"common efforts to promote economic recovery and growth, preserve
stability of global industrial supply chains, and ensure secure cross-border
travel."
Germany and the UK
have stated that they are closely observing the situation but are not at this
time considering further restrictions for Chinese travelers.
The number of cases
in Britain is still, according to a Downing Street official, "quite
modest."
There was, however,
"no sign that a more harmful mutation [of Covid] had emerged,"
according to a German health ministry official.
Officials in China
have ceased disclosing the essential information, so it is unknown how many
illnesses and fatalities there really are every day. According to reports,
hospitals are overburdened and senior citizens are dying.
Beijing reported a
few fatalities and around 4,000 new Covid infections every day last week.
People were highly
discouraged from travelling overseas prior to the liberalisation of travel
regulations. According to marketing solutions provider Dragon Trail
International, the selling of outbound group and package trips was prohibited.
Data from travel
website Trip.com, which was published in Chinese media, revealed that searches
for well-known locations had jumped tenfold from the previous year within 30
minutes of the announcement that China's borders will reopen on Monday.
The most popular
locations were Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, and South Korea.
Separately on
Wednesday, John Lee, the leader of Hong Kong, declared that all remaining Covid
regulations will be abolished relatively soon, with the exception of the face
mask requirement, which will continue to be enforced.
According to Mr. Lee,
the city has a relatively high vaccination rate, which creates an anti-epidemic
barrier.
International
visitors must still provide documentation of their complete Covid vaccination
before entering the US.
The Centre’s for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website also suggests that anybody
visiting the US obtain a Covid test in advance and have their results on hand,
but this is not required by law.
The anonymous US
authorities also stated that they were "talking with partners" and
"following the research and recommendations of public health experts"
in their statement.
Following weeks of
upheaval that saw citizens walk to the streets in unusual demonstrations
against President Xi Jinping and his administration, China has relaxed its
travel restrictions, the final component of the country's divisive zero-Covid
policy.