England to require Covid negative test for travellers from China

England to require Covid negative test for travelers from China

The UK Government announced the introduction of COVID-19-related travel restrictions for people arriving in England from mainland China. From 5 January 2023.

The government said in a press release, “Anyone traveling from mainland China on direct flights to England will be asked to take a pre-departure COVID-19 test. Airlines will be required to check that passengers from mainland China have a negative test before departure”.

The UK Health Secretary Steve Barclay said, ” Passengers arriving from China to England from 5 January will need to show a negative Covid-19 pre-departure test (PDT) taken no more than two days prior to departure. Although there are no direct flights from China to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, we are working with devolved nations to ensure this is implemented UK-wide as soon as possible”.

“The decision has been taken to introduce these measures specifically for China arrivals due to a lack of comprehensive health information shared by China. The situation remains under review and the UK is working with China on the next steps. If there are improvements in information sharing and greater transparency then temporary measures will be reviewed”.

“In addition, the UK Health Security Agency is launching surveillance from Sunday 8 January which will see a sample of passengers arriving in England from mainland China tested for Covid at the point of their arrival”, Steve Barclay mentioned.

England joins a growing list of countries across the world including the US, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Spain, Malaysia, and India in announcing measures that will help to detect and assess any new Covid variants.