Swedish EU Presidency stands for common ground, Canada restores testing for travelers

The Member States of the European Union must discuss on Wednesday January 4 a common response to be adopted with regard to travelers coming from China, where the Covid-19 epidemic appears to be out of control, announced on Saturday December 31, 2022 the Sweden, which insures from 1er January the six-monthly presidency of the EU.

“Sweden is seeking a common policy for the whole of the EU when it comes to the possible introduction of entry restrictions”the Swedish government said in a statement.

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Stockholm said it had decided to activate the IPCR, a tool that allows the Council to react quickly politically in crisis situations. “It is important that we put measures in place quickly”said the same source.

While Beijing abruptly ended its draconian “zero Covid” policy, leading to an explosion of contaminations in the country, France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, in unison with the United States or even South Korea, decided this week to impose a Covid test on travelers coming from China.

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The latest, Canada announced on Saturday that it would require a test. Travelers will have to present a negative test carried out less than 48 hours before boarding in China, the Canadian government said in a press release.

“Due to the lack of epidemiological data”

According to Ottawa, the measure is “a response to the outbreak of Covid-19 in the People’s Republic of China and due to the limited epidemiological and genome sequencing data available on these cases”. The measure will come into effect on January 5 and will be reassessed after thirty days.

The Canadian government has also indicated that it will analyze all wastewater from international flights landing in Toronto and Vancouver in order to monitor the possible appearance of new variants.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control has found “unjustified” such a measure, highlighting the high vaccination rate in Europe.

The World with AFP

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