The missive from the EU’s Integrated Political Crisis Response group (IPCR) on Wednesday (4 January) aligns with an earlier recommendation from the European Commission, and comes just days before China reopens its borders for international travel on Sunday (8 January).
The IPCR also recommends all passengers on flights between China and the EU wear face coverings, and that EU governments introduce random Covid testing for passengers arriving from China. It also suggests screening wastewater at airports with routes arriving from China.
Several EU nations have already set out plans to reintroduce pre-departure testing requirements for arrivals from China, as has the UK, the US, India, Japan and Australia. Operators and specialists are, nonetheless, preparing for a resumption of international leisure travel to and from China.
The UK’s measures came into effect on Thursday (5 January) requiring arrivals from China to provide evidence of a recent negative test for Covid-19 taken no more than two days prior to departure.
In addition, the UK Health Security Agency will increase Covid surveillance measures from Sunday (8 January), which will see a sample of passengers arriving in England from mainland China tested for Covid at the point of their arrival.
Transport secretary Mark Harper, though, has ruled out imposing any self-isolation or quarantine requirement on arrivals from China who test positive for Covid-19 upon their arrival in the UK.
He added UK-led testing efforts would serve as a data gathering exercise in the absence of China sharing its own data on its raging Covid epidemic. Tests will be sequenced to check for potential new variants of Covid-19.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson this week said the restrictions being imposed on travellers from China "lacked scientific basis", adding the Chinese government would now consider reciprocal countermeasures.
Iata chief Willie Walsh said the decision to impose restrictions on arrivals from China was "scientifically unjustified" given Covid-19 is already circulating widely across the world, a point emphasised by the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
"It is extremely disappointing to see this knee-jerk reinstatement of measures that have proven ineffective over the last three years,” said Walsh.
His stance has been backed by Airports Council International (ACI Europe). Director general Olivier Jankovec said: “We are once again plunging back into a patchwork of unjustified and uncoordinated travel restrictions, which have no basis in scientific fact."
