Amid an uptick in coronavirus cases, especially in China, as many as 17 reintroduced new COVID-19 restrictions for international arrivals.
A handful of governments have resumed PCR testing for passenger arrivals, while others have instigated examining swabs to determine new variants of the virus.
Here, we have listed down 17 destinations that are reintroducing PCR tests for international arrivals along with declaring stringent measures for the passengers:
Qatar
Qatar proclaimed a whole new bunch of fresh rules on arrival for travelers from China due to an increase in Covid-19 cases there, starting from 1st January 2023, Sunday.
The Ministry of Public Health in Qatar sent out an announcement declaring that from 6 pm on 3rd January (Tuesday), every person coming from China must show and submit proof of a negative PCR test result at the check-in counter. The PCR test must be taken within 48 hours of exit.
Australia
On Sunday, Australia also announced its new Covid restrictions and statements on travelers. Nevertheless, the tourists arriving from China will present a negative Covid-19 test to enter the country from January 5, uniting with an increasing number of governments that have enforced identical constraints due to high positive cases. However, the condition will also involve travelers from Hong Kong and Macau.
The country is correspondingly contemplating extra steps to avoid a surge in cases which include experimenting with wastewater from airplanes and volitional sampling at airports for arrivals.
Referring to a scarcity of epidemiological knowledge and genomic sequencing data from China, Australian health minister Mark Butler said that the country has come forward with a plenitude of cautions to instruct travelers to take a PCR test and submit a negative result carried within 48 hours of their departure.
Canada
On Saturday, Canada also came forward with Covid-related entry requirements that said it will mandate visitors on Canadian-bound flights leaving China to undergo random testing for Covid-19 and proof of a negative test.
The prerequisites, which will take an upshot at 12:01 am ET on Thursday, certainly apply to all visitors aged two years and older docking on flights in Canada that will be coming from China, Hong Kong, or Macao.
Passengers will be mandated to render proof of a negative Covid-19 test result which should take only two days before exiting the airline before the boarding process. The Canadian government said that this interim criterion will be in place for 30 days and reassessed as additional data becomes obtainable.
Morocco
Multiple tourists come and stay in Morocco from China every year.
Hence, Morocco has decided to foist a prohibition on public reaching from China— no matter what their ethnicity is. The action will take place from January 3 to stave off any new surge of coronavirus diseases, the foreign ministry stated on Saturday.
India
India has moved forward and disseminated revamped protocol policies for international travelers docking in the country.
The approaches mention that two percent of passengers on flights will go through arbitrary testing for Covid-19 on arrival. Besides, passengers exhibiting signs of Covid-19 during the journey will be sequestered and isolated as per the standard protocol.
Kids under 12 are excused from the testing. However, if they’re found to have any symptoms of the virus on appearance or during the self-examination period, they shall go through the testing and be dealt with as per the protocol.
The country’s Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya also declared openly that RT-PCR testing will be made compulsory for global arrivals from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Thailand. If visitors test positive or exhibit signs of Covid-19, they will be subjected to quarantine.
Pakistan
International tourists arriving at Pakistan’s airports will also go through spontaneous testing for Covid-19. In a tweet, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority notified that screening of 2 percent of travelers coming into Pakistan by international flights has commenced at the country’s primary airports.
“Owing to the Covid-19 crisis in the area, screening of 2% of passengers coming in Pakistan by international flights has begun at the country’s main airports. Where required, RAT (Rapid Antigen Test) and PCR tests are being performed too,” the tweet said.
The authority also exhorted passengers to hold their vaccination certificates in hand while at the airport.
Japan
Starting from December 30, the Japanese government will put forward compulsory testing for passengers arriving from China due to an upsurge in the number of factual cases there, the Kyodo news agency stated on Tuesday.
The criterion pertains to visitors from landmass China along with those who stopped by the place within the past seven days. They will be mandated to carry a Covid-19 test upon their arrival in the country. And, those who will test positive will be subjected to quarantine for seven days.
Taiwan
Administrations in the country have asserted that Taiwan will also test travelers coming from China starting from January 1, 2023, joining other governments who have reintroduced PCR testing for arrivals.
Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Centre said every passenger that is coming on explicit flights from China along with those voyaging by boat to two offshore isles, will be needed to take PCR tests after reaching Taiwan.
Health administrators will perform virus sequencing for those who dock from China and test positive to hunt for new variants of the coronavirus, it said in a proclamation.
The standards are expected to operate until the end of January and do not contain those traveling from Hong Kong or Macau. However, those who test positive will have the advantage of being able to quarantine themselves at home.
Italy
Italy is coming no less with new travel restrictions and therefore shoving obligatory coronavirus and rapid antigen tests for passengers arriving from China, the health minister said on Wednesday.
“I have instructed compulsory Covid-19 antigenic swabs, and connected virus sequencing to help identify new variants, for all travelers coming from China and traversing through Italy,” minister Orazio Schillaci said.
The step was “crucial to assure the supervision and identification of any variants of the virus to safeguard the Italian citizens”, he said.
The Italian northern region of Lombardy gave a warm-up to screening on Tuesday—a day before the standard was conveyed nationwide.
Lombardy, the first area to inflict a lockdown when coronavirus slammed Europe in early 2020, is testing passengers from China at Milan’s Malpensa airport for at least until January 30, the foreign ministry said.
Swabs gathered at Malpensa nowadays are already being examined by the national health ministry, to work for identifying any new variants.
United States Covid Restrictions
The United States will need negative Covid tests from all tourists arriving from China following the tide in coronavirus patients in Beijing, health administrators spoke out on Wednesday.
From January 5, “all air travelers aged two years and older emanating from China will be mandated to get a test no more than two days before their departure from China, Hong Kong, and Macau, and display a negative test outcome to the airlines upon departure,” a federal health official said.
United Kingdom
Passengers coming to England from China will need a negative pre-departure PCR test commencing from January 5—carried out no more than two days that are within 48 hours of departure, according to an announcement made by the UK.
South Korea
South Korea notified that it would foist obligatory Covid-19 tests on visitors from China—while tying up with other nations in introducing new border standards after Beijing chose to rip lift its strict zero-Covid guidelines.
“South Korea will also prohibit handing out short-term visas for Chinese citizens until the end of the next month along with temporarily stopping the rising number of flights from China— while utilizing Incheon International Airport as the only gateway for any aviation from the neighboring country”, Prime Minister Han Duck Soo said.
Adequate tourists from China would be instructed to present a negative PCR result from no more than 48 hours duration or an immediate antigen test which is supposed to be taken within 24 hours before the departure—while going through another PCR test upon arrival beginning from January 2, administrators said.
Spain
Spain will also press for a negative Covid-19 test or a whole course of vaccination against the infection upon arrival for visitors from China, the country’s Health Minister Carolina Darias said.
Malaysia
Malaysia will also screen all passengers for fever and analyze wastewater from airplanes coming from China for Covid-19, Minister Zaliha Mustafa said in a declaration.
Philippines
The Philippines should be “very careful” when welcoming tourists from China, which is scuffling with a strong drift in Covid case numbers, the Philippine transportation minister said on Wednesday.
The country could certainly charge standards like testing prerequisites on guests from China, but not an outright ban, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista notified reporters.
Israel
The Israeli health ministry said on Friday it will inflict Covid tests on outsiders planning to voyage from China, where coronavirus cases have overflowed.
It was fixed to instruct foreign airlines to only receive foreign nationals on a flight from China to Israel if they have tested negative for Covid,” Health Minister Aryeh Deri said in an announcement.
France
France will demand visitors from China to equip a negative Covid-19 test result in less than 48 hours before departure, the health and transport minister said on Friday.
The test will be made mandatory on all flights from China, including flights with stopovers. Tourists on aircraft arriving from China will also have to put on masks.
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