Sydney:
Australia on Sunday became the latest country to require travelers from China to provide a negative Covid-19 test before arrival, citing a “lack of comprehensive information” from Beijing about the country’s spate of cases
Health Minister Mark Butler said the move – which takes effect on January 5 – was made “to protect Australia from the risk of potential new emerging variants” and “in recognition of the rapidly evolving situation in China”.
Three years after the coronavirus first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan, Beijing this month began phasing out its harsh containment policy known as “zero-Covid.”
Chinese hospitals have since been hit by a tidal wave of mostly elderly patients, crematoria are overstretched and many pharmacies have run out of fever medication.
While more than 97 per cent of Australian adults have had at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, there are concerns in Canberra that Chinese authorities are not sharing enough details about the number of cases or which variants are in circulation.
“This measure is in response to the significant wave of Covid-19 infections in China and the potential for emerging viral variants in that country,” Butler said.
“Fortunately, in Australia we have easy access to vaccines and treatments and high underlying immunity of the population.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
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