The Twenty-seven have to decide, this Wednesday 4 January, when a dozen countries around the world have already decided to impose Covid tests on travelers from China. The European Union would like not to manage their reception in a dispersive order. Vigilance is essential, in a context in which Beijing is using all its influence not to slow down its reopening to the world. The end of the “zero Covid” strategy is leading to a wave of infections in China. In Beijing between December 14 and 22, more than a million people were infected every day, according to models from the University of Hong Kong.
Common restrictions
This is the first sensitive dossier that Sweden has taken on, when it has held the rotating presidency of the EU Council since 1 January. For several days Stockholm has been working with its European partners on “the possible introduction of entry restrictions” throughout the Union. But China, almost closed to foreigners since 2020, which hasn’t issued tourist visas for three years, has sent out a signal to protect itself from measures it deems inadequate.
“Some countries have introduced entry restrictions aimed only at Chinese travellers. This has no scientific basis and some practices are unacceptable”said a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, Mao Ning, adding that China could take “mutual countermeasures”. Beijing will no longer impose quarantine on travelers on Chinese soil from January 8, but authorities will continue to require a negative PCR test taken less than 48 hours before their arrival.
On Thursday 29 December, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) made screening for the disease mandatory “unjustified” given the high levels of vaccination and the fact that the dominant variant in China – Omicron – “already in circulation in the EU”.
Precautionary principle
However, many countries, including France, want to protect themselves against a potential mutation of the virus. The Committee for monitoring and forecasting health risks (Covars) believes, in an opinion dated 29 December, that the new variants “may not have vanishing characteristicsandimmune system allowing them to spread easily in the European population”even if the risk can not be “completely eliminated”.
The economic stakes are considerable. China, with a population of 1.4 billion, was generating 240 billion euros in tourism spending worldwide every year before the pandemic. Paris, Rome, Madrid, London have nevertheless decided to impose a test on travelers from China, in the name of the precautionary principle. Elsewhere in the world, Japan, the United States, South Korea, India or Taiwan have done the same, while Morocco has simply banned all travelers from China from entering its territory. “regardless of their nationality”.
In France, passengers from China must meet three requirements: present a negative test of less than 48 hours (PCR or antigen), wear a mask during the flight and undergo random PCR tests that allow for epidemiological monitoring. Test or not, there are ways to track the evolution of the virus. In the United States, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) is considering analyzing aircraft wastewater for possible mutations.
