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Travelers at an airport in Beijing (photo from December 13)
Photo: Ng Han Guan/AP
Italy, the USA and other countries have already introduced the rule – but a uniform line within the EU is not in sight for the time being: It is up to each country to decide whether travelers from China have to undergo mandatory corona tests.
However, there should still be talks to come to a common position.
One remains vigilant and, if necessary, will pull the emergency brake, according to a statement by the EU Commission.
The EU health authority considers the introduction of mandatory testing to be unjustified despite the sharp increase in corona cases in China.
Such measures are not necessary for the EU as a whole, said the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
The authority pointed out that the EU countries had “a relatively high level of immunization and vaccination”.
In addition, “the variants circulating in China are already widespread in the EU”.
Traffic light initially against controls for travelers from China
In view of the violent corona wave in China, several countries had ordered compulsory corona tests for people entering China this week, including Italy, the USA, Japan, India and Malaysia.
Italy's Health Minister Orazio Schillaci ordered mandatory corona tests and virus sequencing "for all passengers coming from China and traveling through Italy".
According to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, no new virus variants have been detected so far.
All travelers from China who tested positive were infected with the Omicron variant, which is also circulating in Italy.
According to the information, this was more than half of those tested at Milan Airport.
The line of the EU authority coincides with the position of health politicians in the federal government (read more about this here).
A spokesman for the Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that Germany was initially waiving entry restrictions.
There is currently no indication that a more dangerous mutation has developed in China that would lead to this.
Some professionals share this attitude.
Andreas Bobrowski, chairman of the professional association of German laboratory doctors, spoke of a "political overreaction".
A medical necessity cannot be derived from the course of the pandemic.
Even when the corona virus was at its peak in Europe, with millions of infections within a short period of time, no more dangerous variants had developed.
Expecting this in China is speculative.
However, there are also other voices in this country.
Frank Ulrich Montgomery, President of the World Medical Association, called for stricter entry regulations for travelers from China.
He thinks it is "right to make testing and quarantine regulations mandatory for border crossings from China," he told the Funke media group.
Germany should also do this out of caution.
The EU Commission scheduled consultations on “possible measures for a coordinated approach” by the EU states this Thursday in view of the wave of corona infections in China.
According to a Commission spokeswoman, representatives of the health ministries of the 27 member states should take part.
In early December, Beijing backed away from its strict zero-Covid policy in a radical about-face.
Since then, the corona restrictions have been significantly relaxed.
On Monday, Beijing also announced the end of the quarantine requirement for returnees from abroad, sparking a rush for airline tickets.
ulz/AFP/AP/dpa