Currently, many countries are looking at China and the corona wave rampant there with concern. However, EU states have been unable to agree on the issue of a joint test requirement for people entering the country from China. Instead, they made a recommendation. Meanwhile, Austria is already testing wastewater from Chinese planes.
AUSTRIA/CHINA. After the sudden end of China’s Covid-zero policy, the country is being hit by a massive wave of infections. Across Europe there is concern about the introduction of new variants of corona. Italy, France and Spain have already ordered Covid tests for people arriving from China. Earlier in the week, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) spoke out against such a national and instead in favor of an EU-wide approach.
After a week of consultations with authorities as part of the crisis mechanism, the EU confined itself to an “emphatically” recommendation of mandatory testing before departure from China, as reported by the Austrian Press Agency (APA) on Wednesday night. . It is also recommended to wear a mask and perform wastewater checks. And travelers from China must be randomly tested on arrival in the EU.
No agreement on mandatory testing
EU states were divided in the debate and therefore could not agree on a common regulation. While Italy, for example, advocated mandatory testing, Germany was more cautious. Austria announced in advance that it would join the EU under certain conditions if it adopted a unified approach. “If the EU agrees to a mandatory pre-departure test, Austria would also implement this accordingly. I think a mandatory test only on entry makes little sense,” Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) told the APA on Wednesday .
Austria is testing aircraft wastewater
Meanwhile, Austria has already started screening wastewater from all flights from China. The samples would be taken directly from the aircraft’s waste water tanks – this would allow new variants of the virus to be detected with particular precision, according to an announcement by the Ministry of Health on Tuesday. The sewage treatment plant in Hallstatt, popular with tourists from China, will also be included in the federal government’s wastewater monitoring system.
Tourism has not yet detected a rush
The Austrian tourism industry is still not recognizing any sharp influx of visitors from China. However, they are expected to come back sooner rather than later, as the president of the Austrian Hotel Association, Walter Veith, explained on Wednesday in the Ö1 Morgenjournal. Dominic Schmid, chairman of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce’s hospitality industry group, expects Chinese guests to pick up after Easter.
China angered by restrictions
The Chinese government reacted with indignation to the debate that took place in Europe. The entry restrictions imposed by some countries have no scientific basis and are partially unacceptable, said on Tuesday the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, Mao Ning. She announced countermeasures.
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