The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, has asked the French government for “adequate protective measures”, which assured on Wednesday that it was “following very closely the evolution of the situation in China” in the face of an explosion of COVID cases.
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Italy has decided to impose mandatory tests on all travelers from China who are facing an explosion of COVID cases, Italy’s health minister announced on Wednesday.
The abrupt end of China’s “zero-COVID” policy this month has raised concerns in several countries, including the United States, which is also considering entry restrictions for Chinese travelers as China faces the world’s largest wave of contamination, compounded by the emergence new variants.
Japan will also reinstate mandatory PCR testing for travelers from mainland China starting Friday.
In France, “the President of the Republic has already asked the government to take appropriate measures to protect the French within the framework and to see both at national and European level,” AFP learned from the Elysée.
In government, “the Ministry of Health and Prevention is following developments in China very closely,” he told AFP.
“He is ready to consider any useful measures that could be implemented as a result, in cooperation with France’s European partners and within the legal framework in place today,” he added.
Since August 1, 2022 and the adoption of the law ending the derogations to fight the COVID-19 epidemic, travelers no longer have to complete any formalities before arriving in France, regardless of their country or territory of origin.
However, this text leaves the government the possibility to require, by January 31, the presentation of a negative test before entering the territory for persons over 12 years of age, “in the event of the emergence and spread of a new variant of COVID-19, the one could pose a serious health threat”.