For its part, after Italy, France decides to impose tests on all travelers from China. Faced with an explosion in the number of cases in the country, a consequence of the abrupt end of the “zero Covid” policy this month, the French government declares that it anticipates a renewed outbreak of the epidemic on our territory and the emergence of new variants of fears Covid.-19.
To combat this upstream, according to a decree published this Saturday in the Official Journal, three measures will be taken. All passengers arriving from China who wish to board a direct flight or a stopover must submit a negative test result (PCR or antigen) and a declaration on their honor at least 48 hours before departure, from January 5 to January 31. France is also making it compulsory to wear a mask on direct flights out of the country for all passengers aged 6 and over. Finally, random PCR tests will be carried out on arrival in France from January 1st.
decree #China released
• From January 5th to 31st: Negative PCR or antigen test to be submitted within 48 hours and affidavit (I have no symptoms, I am not a contact case, I will accept a test on arrival, I will be isolated if positive) Boarding .
1/4 pic.twitter.com/xEZupRg8ey
— Nicolas Berrod (@nicolasberrod) December 31, 2022
Positive tests are sequenced to identify possible variants of the virus. “This is not intended to authorize or refuse entry into the sovereign territory, but to complete the analysis with an epidemiological surveillance sample,” the Ministry of Health explains. The people concerned “are informed and have undertaken to isolate themselves when entering French territory,” the government assures. This is also what the decree provides. However, there are no plans to monitor compliance with the isolation, even if those affected “have to undertake to remain contactable for a maximum of 15 days”.
3,000 people come to France from China every week
China’s extremely drastic mandatory testing policy was halted a few days ago, leading to a major reduction in epidemiological surveillance. “The situation in China is being closely monitored as it is a very populous country. There will be international flows with Chinese New Year and low immunity as China has seen few waves, summarizes Professor Jérôme Salomon, Director General of Health. Vaccination immunity is also being questioned. All of this means there is a significant risk of spreading the virus. At the moment, specialists are not particularly observing the emergence of a new variant, but there are risk factors because “we are facing an atypical situation”.
The Quai d’Orsay also recommends postponing all non-essential travel to China, particularly for infirm and immunocompromised travellers. Currently, around ten flights a week connect the two countries, which means that around 3,000 people from China arrive in France every week. But as borders open up, that rate should rise quickly.
Towards European harmonization… and beyond?
These decisions go against the findings of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). On Thursday, the European Health Authority considered systematic screening at this stage in the EU to be “unjustified”. According to her, health systems are “now able” to cope with the disease and the variants present in China are already present in Europe. However, the European Commission had convened a meeting for Thursday to discuss “possible measures for coordinated action” by EU countries in view of the explosion of cases in China.
On Wednesday evening, shortly after Italy announced that it would impose this control on passengers from China, the French government had pledged to “follow the evolution of the situation very closely” and declared itself “ready” to “consider any useful measures”. In the evening, the Élysée announced that Emmanuel Macron had “requested the government to take appropriate measures to protect the French in this context and to see both at national and European level”.
Outside the European Union, other countries have taken similar steps. Beginning January 5, travelers to the United States will be required to present a negative Covid test result before boarding their flight. The measure also applies to passengers arriving from Hong Kong and Macau. And a few minutes after the French decision, Great Britain also announced that it would require the presentation of a negative test in order to be able to conquer its territory.