EU Council "strongly encourages" negative COVID-19 tests for travellers coming from China

The Member States agreed on a coordinated precautionary approach in the light of COVID-19 developments in China, especially considering the need for sufficient, reliable data and the easing of travel restrictions by China starting on 8 January 2023, along the lines set out below.

• The Member States agree to recommend to all passengers on flights to and from China to wear a medical mask, or FFP2/N95/KN95 respirators.
• The Member States agree to issue advice to incoming and outgoing international travellers coming from or destined for China, as well as to aircraft and airport personnel, regarding personal hygiene and health measures.
• The Member States are strongly encouraged to introduce, for all passengers departing from China to Member States, the requirement for a negative COVID-19 test taken not more than 48 hours prior to departure from China.
• The Member States are encouraged to complement these measures with:
  • Random testing of passengers arriving from China on arrival in the Member States, as appropriate, and the sequencing of all positive results to strengthen surveillance of the epidemiological situation.
  • Testing and sequencing of wastewater from airports with international flights and aircraft arriving from China.
  • Continuing to promote vaccine sharing and the uptake of vaccines, including booster doses, particularly among vulnerable groups.

The IPCR, with the support of the ECDC and the EEAS, and taking into account WHO assessment, will continue to monitor the epidemiological situation in the EU and developments in China, including the level of data shared, with a view to ensuring EU coordination of any measures considered necessary.

The Member States agree to assess the situation and review the introduced measures by mid-January 2023.

Background

A mass outbreak of COVID-19 cases began in China after Beijing abruptly relaxed the so-called "zero-COVID" measures that were supposed to contain the spread of coronavirus. The U-turn was considered a reaction to widespread street protests against the draconian policies, which saw entire cities being locked down and people confined to their homes for extended periods of time, Euronews reported.

Due to the opacity and stringent information control exercised by the Chinese state, the exact extent of the outbreak is unknown. 

According to data provided to the World Health Organisation (WHO), China registered 242 deaths from COVID-19 in the week of 26 December. 

But last month, a UK-based group of health experts said that around 9,000 people could be dying from the disease every day.

Omicron subvariants BA.5.2 and BF.7 together accounted for 97.5% of all recent local infections in China, WHO reported on Wednesday.

While the number of coronavirus has been surging in China, virologists around the global are getting increasingly concerned about a variant spreading at lightning speed in the United States. The new COVID-19 variant dubbed as a "nightmare" variant is XBB.1.5, a highly contagious "recombinant" variant that spawned from two different BA.2 variants. It's emergence causes alarm because  it is highly immune evasive and appears more effective at binding to cells than related subvariants, which is especially concerning for immunocompromised people. At the same time, there's no indication that it would cause more severe cases than its predecessors.

In the lead-up to Wednesday's EU decision, which was widely expected, Beijing described the travel restrictions as "unacceptable" and "discriminatory".

We strongly oppose attempts to manipulate COVID measures for political purposes and will take countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity,

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

There is concern among European countries that the uncontrolled surge in infections could give birth to new and more infectious COVID-19 variants, threatening to undo the progress made in the last two years.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Tuesday the variants found in China "are already circulating in the EU, and as such are not challenging for the immune response of EU citizens."

It added that EU/EEA citizens have relatively high immunisation and vaccination levels. Over 75% of the EU's total population has received at least one vaccine dose.

As of the end of last year, Hungary had the following vaccination rates (see graph). The following vaccination rate data should be taken with a pinch of salt. The shots do offer good protection from severe illness and death, but their power to shield you from contracting the virus depends greatly on the type of vaccine - messenger RNA (mRNA), vector, protein subunit vaccine - the recipient's immune system (age, weight, underlying diseases, etc.), the time that elapsed since the last jab was administered, and obviously the number of shots received and immunity gained by infection. It would take a deeper look to determine actually how many Hungarians are well-protected against contracting COVID-19, and there are the risks of long COVID to consider too.

Given higher population immunity in the EU, as well as the prior emergence and subsequent replacement of variants currently circulating in China by other Omicron sub-lineages in the EU, a surge in cases in China is not expected to impact the COVID-19 epidemiological situation in the EU,

the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.

Cover photo: Getty Images