EU 'strongly' encourages negative COVID-19 test for travellers coming from China

euronews.com:

European Union member states agreed on Wednesday to "strongly encourage" a requirement that would obligate all travellers coming from China, regardless of nationality, to present a negative COVID-19 test as the number of infections surges in the Asian country.

The coronavirus test should be taken no more than 48 hours before embarking on the flight.

The decision, which is not legally binding, was made by the EU's integrated political crisis response (IPCR), a body that helps coordinate crisis management among the 27 member states.

The IPCR also agreed that passengers on flights to and from China to the EU should wear medical masks or respirators, in addition to other hygiene measures that national authorities might mandate.

Member states are urged to conduct "random testing" on passengers arriving from China and to monitor the wastewater from aircraft in search of clues about any potentially dangerous variants, according to a statement released by the Swedish presidency of the EU Council.

The recommendations will enter into force as of Monday.

It comes as some EU countries, such as Italy, France and Spain, imposed their own unilateral travel measures in response to a mass outbreak of COVID-19 cases in China, which began after Beijing abruptly relaxed the so-called "zero-COVID" measures that were supposed to contain the spread of the virus.

The U-turn was considered a reaction to widespread street protests against the draconian policies, which saw entire cities being locked down and people confined to their homes for extended periods of time.

Due to the opacity and stringent information control exercised by the Chinese state, the exact extent of the outbreak is unknown. 

According to data provided to the World Health Organisation