China slams ‘excessive’ COVID-19 curbs on travellers, threatens to respond – National | 24CA News
The Chinese authorities blasted COVID-19 testing necessities imposed on passengers from China and threatened countermeasures towards nations concerned, which embody the U.S. and several other European nations.
“We believe that the entry restrictions adopted by some countries targeting China lack scientific basis, and some excessive practices are even more unacceptable,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning mentioned at a each day briefing Tuesday.
“We are firmly opposed to attempts to manipulate the COVID measures for political purposes and will take countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity,” she mentioned.
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Canada would require COVID-19 testing for flights from China as virus surges
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The feedback have been China’s sharpest to this point on the difficulty. Australia and Canada this week joined a rising record of nations requiring vacationers from China to take a COVID-19 check previous to boarding their flight, as China battles a nationwide outbreak of the coronavirus after abruptly easing restrictions that have been in place for a lot of the pandemic.
Other nations together with the U.S., U.Ok., India, Japan and several other European nations have introduced more durable COVID-19 measures on vacationers from China amid issues over an absence of knowledge on infections in China and fears of the chance that new variants could emerge.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne defended the exams. Starting Wednesday, anybody flying from China to France must current a damaging virus check taken throughout the earlier 48 hours and be topic to random testing on arrival.
“We are in our role, my government is in its role, protecting the French,” Borne mentioned Tuesday on France-Info radio.
Some Canadian consultants have questioned the effectiveness of the testing. Kerry Bowman, assistant professor on the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, mentioned that individuals can check optimistic lengthy after getting into the nation.
The requirement is “not based on science at this point,” he mentioned after Canada introduced measures final weekend.
China, which for a lot of the pandemic adopted a “zero-COVID” technique that imposed harsh restrictions geared toward stamping out the virus, abruptly eased these measures in December.
Chinese authorities beforehand mentioned that from Jan. 8, abroad vacationers would not have to quarantine upon arriving in China, paving the best way for Chinese residents to journey.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
