EU recommends pre-flight testing of passengers from China

Employees of the municipal health service GGD are handing out free Covid-19 self-tests to travelers arriving from China at Schiphol, The Netherlands, on Wednesday. [Robin van Lonkhuijsen/ EPA]

European Union government officials recommended on Wednesday that passengers flying from China to the EU should have a negative Covid-19 test before they board, as Beijing plans to ease travel restrictions despite a wave of new Covid infections.

The recommendation comes from the EU's Integrated Political Crisis Response group (IPCR), which is a body made up of officials from the EU's 27 governments, and is in line with a recommendation made earlier by the European Commission.

China plans to ease travel restrictions on Jan 8, despite a wave of new infections which has left Chinese hospitals and funeral houses overwhelmed.

The IPCR also recommended that all passengers on flights to and from China should wear face masks, that EU governments introduce random testing of passengers arriving from China and that they test and sequence wastewater in airports with...

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