EU set to phase out COVID-19 measures for Chinese travellers

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Travelers wait in a COVID-19 testing queue in Milan, but existing measures for people entering the EU from China are set to be eased. Reuters/Jennifer Lorenzini/.

EU countries have agreed to phase out COVID-19 restrictions on travelers from China that were put in place to guard against possible new coronavirus variants after China's reopening prompted an increase in infections there.

Health experts from the 27 EU members agreed at a meeting on Thursday that they would end the requirement for negative pre-departure COVID tests by the end of February, the Swedish presidency of the EU said.

They would also stop random testing of travelers from China by the middle of March. The moves were also agreed by non-EU members of the Schengen free travel zone - Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

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The countries had previously agreed on the pre-arrival tests and post-arrival random checks on January 4, just before China changed it's travel rules, to bring to an end one of the tightest COVID restrictions implemented during the pandemic.

The measures announced by the EU on Thursday served only as a recommendations for members. Some countries, such as France and Italy, imposed mandatory COVID tests and virus sequencing for passengers coming from China, although Italy loosened its controls at the end of January.

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Source(s): Reuters