France turns into third EU nation to display China arrivals for COVID – POLITICO

France turned the third EU nation to introduce tighter COVID screening guidelines for vacationers coming from China amid a surge in instances within the Asian nation.

To enter France, all vacationers coming from China should present a adverse PCR or antigen take a look at of lower than 48 hours earlier than boarding, the French authorities stated on Friday. The brand new guidelines shall be imposed beginning January 5, it stated.

Folks touring from China will even be required to put on a masks throughout your complete flight. The French authorities added that it’ll additionally carry out random checks on passengers upon arrival for epidemiological monitoring functions, to establish new COVID variants for instance.

France joins Italy, Spain and the U.Okay. in imposing restrictions to the entry of vacationers arriving from China. The U.S. and Japan have additionally determined to place in place restrictions.

The tighter guidelines comply with Beijing’s determination to loosen its strict zero-COVID coverage and ease restrictions within the nation. Beijing has additionally eased guidelines for incoming vacationers, who will not be required to quarantine upon arrival as of January 8.

On Thursday, the EU did not agree on joint journey restriction measures for passengers arriving from China. The European Fee tweeted that “coordination of nationwide responses to critical cross border threats to well being is essential.”