“Member states are strongly encouraged to introduce a requirement for all passengers traveling from China to member states to undergo a negative Covid-19 test no more than 48 hours before departure from China,” Sweden said. the presidency of the EU Council, after a meeting of health experts in Brussels.
An agreement was also reached to recommend the use of medical masks or FFP2 on planes departing from China.
These decisions are not binding on individual EU countries, but are considered important guidelines. They should be evaluated in mid-January.
Germany has already tried to secure the adoption of uniform European regulations in this area, said the press officer of the German health ministry.
“We are primarily interested in setting up a virus variant surveillance system,” he added. The hitherto known variants of the coronavirus from China are circulating in Germany, “but of course we would like to know at an early stage whether anything is changing,” said the press officer at the German health ministry.
In light of the coronavirus outbreak in China, the World Health Organization (WHO) continues to seek more information from Chinese authorities.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed his sympathy for the decision of several countries, including Europe, to request tests for travelers from China. He said the worldwide concern was caused by the XBB.1.5 variant of the coronavirus, which was discovered in October and is more easily transmissible than any previously known variant.
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