The chaos of the pandemic in China leads to new controls for travelers, mainly in Asia

At the European level, Italy and Spain are anticipating a possible common response within the EU

MADRID, 30 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The explosion of COVID-19 cases in China, derived from the withdrawal of most of the restrictions imposed throughout the pandemic, has generated worldwide concern and has led to the imposition in several countries, including Spain, of new controls for travelers from the Asian giant.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) assessed on Thursday that, for now, recovering this type of measure was "unjustified", since Europe has a broad level of immunization and no new ones have been detected. variants that present additional cause for concern.

The European Commission, for its part, advocated a "coordinated" approach and convened an extraordinary meeting of the Health Security Committee from which no new measures emerged, beyond advocating "active surveillance" on the evolution of the situation in China. Italy, however, has already advocated common restrictions through its Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni.

The Italian government was the first in the EU to announce measures, forcing all travelers from China to present a negative coronavirus test. The order of the Italian Ministry of Health also includes travelers in transit and will be in force, in principle, until the end of January.

In the case of Spain, another route is established, since those who demonstrate that they have completed the vaccination regimen will be exempt from presenting this negative test.

The United States, for its part, does not take into account the vaccination status and, like Italy, will request a test from all passengers arriving at airports, either an antigen test or a PCR. Those who have tested positive more than ten days before the trip, may provide documentation showing that they have overcome the disease.

The wave of infections in China has generated special concern in Asia, where a large part of the controls adopted at the national level are concentrated in recent days.

This Friday, the South Korean government has confirmed that it will request tests from travelers from China, both before and after the trip, will limit the issuance of visas and will veto any increase in air connections. In fact, all flights arriving from China will be channeled through a single airport.

Taiwan will also test those arriving from the mainland, while Malaysia will also monitor travelers, for example by testing sewage from all flights from China. For its part, India will request a negative test, in a measure that also extends to travelers arriving from South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Japan.

The latter country will require all passengers arriving from China to undergo a test and quarantine for a week if they test positive. Likewise, it will maintain the restrictions on direct air connections with the most populous country in the world.