Australia defends new Covid travel restrictions China calls ‘unnecessary’

China has declared restrictions on Chinese travellers enforced by Australia and other countries as ‘unnecessary’.

China has declared restrictions on Chinese travellers enforced by Australia and other countries as “unnecessary”.

Citing “authoritative medical experts”, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China believes Covid response measures needed to be “science-based and proportionate without affecting normal travel and people-to-people exchange and cooperation”.

“Some countries adopt entry restriction measures only targeting China, which lacks a scientific basis,” Ms Mao said in Beijing on Tuesday night.

“We firmly oppose the practice of manipulating epidemic prevention and control measures to achieve political goals, and will take corresponding measures according to the principle of reciprocity according to different situations.“

More than a dozen countries – including Australia, the US, UK, France, India, and Canada – have imposed preflight testing and screening measures on travellers from a China experiencing an unprecedented Covid wave.

Given a lack of information from Beijing, World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently called the restrictions “understandable”, and urged the government to be more forthcoming with data.

It came after Treasurer Jim Chalmers defended the Australian government’s decision to impose preflight Covid checks on travellers from China as acting out of “an abundance of caution”.

“It is not an especially onerous requirement that people have a negative test when they come here from that part of the world,” Dr Chalmers told Sky News on Tuesday.

“The Chief Medical Officers are people we work with closely, we respect their advice. Of course one of the points that they’ve been making is we need to do better when it comes to surveillance of people coming to the country. There’s an element of uncertainty about the data coming out of China.

“So for all of those reasons we’ve taken this decision out of an abundance of caution consistent with what’s happening around the world in other countries with which we compare ourselves.”

The Albanese government will introduce tough new measures for passengers from China “out of an abundance of caution”, Health Minister Mark Butler says. Travellers from China will need to submit evidence that they have a negative Covid test under a new rule coming into effect from midnight on January 5. At a press conference in Adelaide, Mr Butler mentioned the other countries that have introduced some basic restrictions on travellers from China before announcing the new measure.

A passenger of a flight from Beijing leaves the terminal after landing at the Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport. Picture: AFP

The UK and France have joined the growing list of countries requiring Covid tests from passengers from China.
“In light of that lack of comprehensive information at this point in time, the government has decided out of an abundance of caution, to require travellers from China to submit evidence before boarding the flight that they have a negative Covid test,” M Butler said.

“This will come into effect at 12.01am on the 5 January an outline of the time of arrangements from a number of other countries including the United States and England.

The flight crew from Air China arrive in hazmat suits in the international terminal at Los Angeles International Airport. Picture: AFP.

“As well the government intends to put in place additional measures to collect information as recommended to me by the chief medical officer.

“Those arrangements include exploring the feasibility of wastewater testing from aeroplanes, this is a measure that is an innovation in Australia has been picked up right now across the world in places including the United States and Europe.

“We are also reviewing and strengthening our community wastewater testing arrangements across the country. The possibility of voluntary sampling arrangement at airports for arrivals or for travellers to be tested upon their arrival into Australia.
“And fourthly strengthening our arrangements for the follow-up of people in Australia who test positive within 14 days of having been overseas. I want to stress that these arrangements have not been put in place lightly.”

Meanwhile, Opposition leader Peter Dutton accused the government of rebuffing health advice in enforcing the testing requirements.

In a joint statement with health spokeswoman Anne Ruston, he said the government “must explain to the Australian people why they have ignored the advice of the Chief Medical Officer – particularly given the Health Minister and Acting Secretary of the Health Department have advised there is no new variant of concern coming out of China and, therefore, no logical reason for the restrictions they are putting in place”.

EXPERT CALLS FOR TESTING

It comes after one of Australia’s leading infectious disease experts called on the federal government to introduce restrictions on Chinese travellers amid concerns deadly new Covid-19 variants could be released from the country now that China’s international borders have reopened.

Covid testing measures were scrapped for travellers entering Australia in early 2022 and are now only used in high risk medical or aged care environments.

“Both Australia and China are experiencing a lot of Covid cases right now with similar sub variants. So letting people with the same set variant into Australia from China doesn’t add much to our risk,” the University of Sydney’s Professor Robert Booy said.

“However, given that so very many people are getting infected every day in China, there is a real risk that a new sub variant and perhaps even a new variant could arise in China.

“We have an opportunity to screen people coming from China by their symptoms and by excluding people who have respiratory symptoms.

“We also have an opportunity to require everyone on a plane to wear a mask. “And I think we should strongly consider requiring everyone who is coming to Australia from China to have a RAT test on the on the day of their departure while at the airport.”

A China Airlines plane landing at Los Angeles International Airport. Picture: AFP.

US AND EUROPE RESPOND

The US has became the latest country to impose mandatory Covid tests on Chinese tourists just days before China is set to re-open its borders next week after almost three years of restrictions.

From January 8, US authorities said quarantine for travellers entering China will end and passport applications for Chinese citizens will resume.

But the US said that from January 5 all passengers travelling from China, Hong Kong and Macau would need a negative Covid test to enter the country in order to “slow the spread” of the virus.

A US department of health statement said air passengers would need to take a Covid test no more than two days before departure and that those who tested positive more than 10 days before the flight could provide documentation of recovery from Covid instead of a negative test result.

It comes as the country faces a surge in Covid cases, despite Beijing said coronavirus rules should be brought in on a “scientific” basis, and accused some countries and media of ”hyping up” the situation.

The true toll of daily cases and deaths in China is unknown because officials have stopped releasing the data although reports say hospitals are overwhelmed and elderly people are dying.

This picture shows a Covid-19 patient being treated at Tianjin First Center Hospital in Tianjin. Picture: AFP.

However, they said they will continue to monitor the situation” and adjust its approach ”as necessary” despite accusing China of failing to provide “adequate and transparent” Covid data, which it said was ”critical” for monitoring infection surges “effectively”.

“There are mounting concerns in the international community on the ongoing Covid-19 surges in China and the lack of transparent data, including viral genomic sequence data, being reported from the People’s Republic of China,” US officials said.
Other countries have taken similar steps in an effort to keep infections from spreading beyond China’s borders.

Japan will require a negative Covid-19 test upon arrival for travellers from China, and Malaysia announced new tracking and surveillance measures.

India, South Korea and Taiwan are requiring virus tests for visitors from China.

Cities across China have struggled with surging infections resulting in overflowing hospital wards. Picture: AFP.

The European Union has offered free Covid-19 vaccines to China to help Beijing contain a mass outbreak of the illness, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

The initiative is part of efforts by health commissioner Stella Kyriakides to arrange a European response to the prospect of a wave of infections after Beijing ditched its so-called “zero Covid” policy, the report added, citing EU commission officials, speaking under the condition of anonymity.

Health workers moving a Covid-19 patient at Tianjin First Center Hospital in Tianjin. Picture: AFP.

European Union government health officials will hold talks on Wednesday on a coordinated response to the surge in Covid-19 infections in China, the Swedish EU presidency said on Monday, after December talks concluded with no decisions on the matter.

But EU member state Italy – once the global epicentre of the virus after it spread from China in late 2019 and 2020 – has already imposed restrictions on people arriving from China.

It said it was bringing in mandatory Covid testing for all passengers coming from China.

The UK said it was monitoring the situation closely, but was not considering new restrictions for Chinese travellers.

- with Reuters