BERLIN – Germany today discouraged non-essential trips to China, the world’s most populous nation, which is struggling with a surge in Covid-19 cases after relaxing strict virus restrictions.
“We currently discourage non-essential trips to China. The reason is a peak in Covid-19 infections and an overwhelmed health system,” the German foreign ministry said on Twitter.
More than a dozen countries have slapped fresh travel regulations on travellers from China.
European Union experts this week “strongly encouraged” the bloc’s 27 member states to demand Covid-19 tests from people on flights from China and conduct random tests on arrivals.
Several other EU nations – including Germany, France, Germany, Italy and Spain – have already announced Covid-19 test requirements on travellers coming from the Asian nation.
The United States and Japan are among the non-European countries to have brought in similar measures.
Chinese authorities have said in recent days that the first wave of infections has hit a peak in cities including Beijing and Tianjin.
But the end is far from near, with officials warning of a multi-pronged outbreak in the coming weeks as city workers return to their rural hometowns during the winter travel season. – AFP, January 7, 2023
