The director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said moves by countries like the US, Italy and some European countries to require pre-flight COVID tests for travellers coming from China was a step in the wrong direction.
Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, said “Several countries are introducing COVID-19 testing and other measures for travellers from China, even though the virus is already circulating widely within their borders. It is extremely disappointing to see this knee-jerk reinstatement of measures that have proven ineffective over the last three years. Research undertaken around the arrival of the Omicron variant concluded that putting barriers in the way of travel made no difference to the peak spread of infections. At most, restrictions delayed that peak by a few days. If a new variant emerges in any part of the world, the same situation would be expected. That’s why governments should listen to the advice of experts, including the WHO, that advise against travel restrictions. We have the tools to manage COVID-19 without resorting to ineffective measures that cut off international connectivity, damage economies and destroy jobs. Governments must base their decisions on ‘science facts’ rather than ‘science politics’.”
Most recently, European Union member states recommended new restrictions on passengers traveling into the EU from China but stopped short of adding new rules for flights. A meeting of the EU’s integrated political crisis response group on Wednesday “strongly encourage” countries to adopt pre-departure COVID testing, encourage masking on flights and implement wastewater checks as a response to the rampant COVID outbreak in China, according to a Bloomberg report.
China, for its part, still requires pre-departure testing for travellers coming into the country, but lashed out at countries that are requiring the same tests for travellers leaving China. China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman warned earlier this week that the country would hit back at nations that placed COVID restrictions on its travellers for “political goals.”
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