STOCKHOLM: The European Union’s health agency said on Thursday it believed the introduction of mandatory Covid screenings of travellers from China was “unjustified”, despite a surge in cases in China.

The United States and several other countries have introduced mandatory Covid tests on travellers arriving from China. But such measures are not necessary for the EU as a whole, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in a statement.

Hospitals across China have been overwhelmed by an explosion of infections following Beijing’s decision to lift strict rules that had largely kept the virus at bay, but tanked the economy and sparked widespread protests. China said this week it would end mandatory quarantine on arrival, prompting many Chinese to make plans to travel abroad.

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However, the ECDC said it did not currently believe the surge in cases in China would impact the epidemiological situation in the EU “given higher population immunity, as well as the prior emergence and subsequent replacement of variants currently circulating in China”.

Consequently, the agency considered “screenings and travel measures on travellers from China unjustified”.

Potential imported infections were “rather low” compared to the numbers already circulating on a daily basis, which healthcare systems “are currently able to manage”, the agency added. The European Commission convened a meeting of the EU’s health security committee on Thursday to discuss possible measures.

“It is crucial that the EU acts united and in coordination regarding any possible public health measures in view of the situation in China,” a commission spokesperson said.

The commission would “continue to facilitate discussions between member states”, the spokesperson added.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2022