EU international locations will meet subsequent week to debate a joint response to travellers from China amid concern over the nation’s explosion of Covid circumstances, incoming EU presidency holder Sweden introduced Saturday.
“Sweden is seeking a common policy for the entire EU when it comes to the introduction of possible entry restrictions”, the Swedish authorities stated in a press release.
Stockholm, which takes over the rotating EU presidency on January 1, stated it had known as a gathering of the Council’s disaster administration mechanism IPCR for Wednesday.
“It is important that we quickly get the necessary measures in place”, it stated.
Beijing has abruptly ended its draconian “zero Covid” coverage, leading to an explosion of infections within the nation, which has prompted a number of EU member states to impose Covid checks on travellers from China.
France, Italy and Spain this week imposed Covid testing necessities. Germany, whereas saying it noticed no have to impose routine checks, is looking for a coordinated system to observe variants throughout European airports.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), one of many EU’s well being companies, stated Thursday that systematic screening of travellers was presently “unjustified”.
It cited the extent of immunity in Europe and the presence on the continent of the identical variants as in China.
The European department of the International Airports Council stated on Saturday that imposing restrictions for travellers from China nation was “neither scientifically justified nor risk based”.
The federation, which represents greater than 500 airports in 55 European international locations, stated the identification of doable new variants that might emerge in China might be detected with genomic sequencing of airport waste water evaluation, with out the necessity to take a look at travellers.
