MILAN, KOMPAS.com – More than half of the passengers inside plane from China to Italy recently tested positive for Covid-19.
The two flights to Milan are among the first flights to implement mandatory Covid-19 testing for travelers from China.
Indeed, this came as the “country of the bamboo curtain” was preparing to open its borders despite a significant spike in infections.
Read also: Following the peak of Covid-19: China, Malaysia check all visitors
As is known, the Chinese immigration authorities have announced that they will once again accept passport applications for Chinese citizens for tourism purposes and overseas visits starting from January 8, 2023.
China has stopped issuing visas to foreigners and passports to its citizens since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.
“On the first flight, out of 92 passengers, 35 of them (38 were positive for Covid-19 (38 percent). On the second flight, out of 120 passengers, 62 of them were positive for Covid-19 (62 percent).” he said a member of the Regional Welfare Council of Lombardy, Italy, Guido Bertolaso, as quoted by Sky News Thursday (29/12/2022),
Italian sequel
Meanwhile, reported by Bloomberg, Authorities in Milan said most of the passengers on the plane from China who tested positive for Covid-19 did not show any symptoms.
However, local Italian media said the government was concerned about the emergence of a new variant of Covid-19 amid a spike in cases in China.
Read also: South Korea is the latest country to tighten rules for visitors from China
Therefore, in addition to carrying out a Covid-19 test, the Milan authorities are said to be conducting a sequencing test to examine whether there is a new Covid-19 variant among passengers who have tested positive for the corona virus.
If the existence of a new variant is confirmed, the Italian authorities plan to apply stricter controls and rules to all arrivals from China.
“Pizza Country” is on high alert regarding a new wave of Covid-19 in China because the European country was once a vortex of corona virus transmission at the start of the pandemic.
Italy was among the countries most affected by the transmission of Covid-19 at the beginning of the pandemic.
Fortunately, Italy was able to contain the contagion rapidly following high Covid-19 vaccination rates.
For your information, several countries around the world have also tightened supervision of travelers from China due to fears of the spread of Covid-19.
Japan, India, Taiwan, the United States, South Korea and North Korea are said to have issued Covid-19 testing recommendations for travelers from China.
Read also: Deaths due to Covid-19 in China have reached 9,000 per day
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