Milan –
Government Italy conducted COVID-19 tests on passengers on two flights from China to Milan. As a result, more than half of the passengers on the two planes tested positive for COVID-19.
Reported New York PostOn Thursday (29/12/2022), two planes loaded with sick passengers arrived at Malpensa airport Milan from China on Monday (26/12).
According to the head of the Lombardy Health, Guido Bertolaso, on the first flight, 35 of the 92 passengers tested positive for the Coronavirus. Meanwhile, on the second flight, 62 of the 120 passengers were infected.
Passengers who have tested positive for COVID-19 have now been isolated. Authorities are also conducting contact tracing.
On Wednesday (28/12), the Italian Health Minister, Orazio Schillaci, also announced that the COVID-19 test is mandatory for all passengers coming from China and for those in transit through Italy. He said this step was very important in preventing the spread of a new variant of the corona virus.
“This step is important to ensure surveillance and identification of any variants of the virus to protect the Italian population,” Schillaci said, adding that further details of the plan will be provided later.
Schillaci’s announcement follows China’s easing of strict “zero-COVID” policies earlier this month. The sudden change has unleashed the largest outbreak of COVID infections in China since the start of the pandemic and has left hospitals full, refusing ambulances and unable to treat some critically ill patients.
Some 37 million people may have contracted COVID-19 in China on December 20 alone, and as many as 248 million people – nearly 18% of China’s population – contracted the virus in the first 20 days of December.
US requires travelers from China to test for COVID-19
The United States (US) will require all travelers from China to submit test results COVID-19 negative before flying to the country. This was done as the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in Beijing caused a spike in cases.
Federal health officials said on Thursday (12/29/2022) on CNN that passengers flying to the US from China must get tested no later than two days before their flight. They are also required to show proof of a negative test to the airline before boarding the flight.
Testing can be in the form of a PCR test or an antigen self-test provided through telehealth services. The new rules will go into effect at 12:01 local time on January 5.
The requirements apply to both passengers flying directly to the US from China, including Hong Kong and Macau, and passengers flying through popular third-country gateways, such as Seoul, Toronto and Vancouver.
Passengers who test positive more than 10 days before their flight can provide documents proving their recovery in lieu of a negative test result.
See also “China’s response after Japan and India tighten entry for their country”:
(is/imk)
