Austrian Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) is in favor of an EU-wide obligation to test before entering China. He is not alone in this. A majority of EU countries support this proposal.
A spokesperson for the European Commission said this on Wednesday. Representatives from the EU countries met in the afternoon to discuss a unified approach. However, details of the mandatory test, such as how to deal with people entering the country from non-EU countries, have yet to be clarified. For example, Germany and Austria want to fight for uniform European legislation.
“If the EU agrees to mandatory pre-departure testing, Austria will implement it accordingly. I don’t think there is much point in having a test only on entry,” said Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) before the APA consultation. Rauch also thinks it is not logical that Austria goes it alone. Most tourists from China would come to the EU via other airports and travel on to Austria.
More and more countries are demanding a negative test
On the other hand, some other countries have already tightened the rules for entry from China on their own, including Italy, France, Spain and Great Britain. Above all, travelers from China must have a negative corona test. On Tuesday, however, representatives of national health ministries agreed on a “coordinated approach”. What that should look like will be discussed on Wednesday.
The background to this is the abrupt departure of the Chinese government from its strict zero-Covid policy, which is expected to lead to hundreds of millions of Chinese identifying with the virus in the near future. This could also lead to dangerous virus mutations, which could then spread travelers from China to other countries, it said.
Immunity to Omicron variant
However, Rauch is not worried that the corona situation in Austria could deteriorate again. The average number of new infections has been less than 4,000 in recent weeks. The relatively small number of Chinese tourists will “not significantly contribute to an increase”.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
