France urges EU peers to test Chinese travelers for COVID-19

Passengers arriving from China wait in front of a COVID-19 testing area set at the Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport on Jan. 1, 2023. (AP)

• France is requiring that travelers from China provide a negative COVID-19 test result less than 48 hours before departure and will randomly test those arriving

PARIS: France on Sunday urged European Union peers to test Chinese travelers for COVID-19 after Paris decided to do so amid an outbreak sweeping the country.
Only Italy and Spain also require tests in the 27-nation, largely border-free EU and health officials from across the bloc failed last week to agree on a joint course.
More talks will follow this week.
From Sunday, France is requiring that travelers from China provide a negative COVID-19 test result less than 48 hours before departure and will randomly test those arriving.
“France will push for this methodology to be applied across the EU,” Health Minister François Braun said as he and Transport Minister Clement Beaune checked on the new procedures at Paris’ Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport.
Asked about the fact that a Chinese traveler with COVID-19 could for the time being land in another EU country and then travel unchecked to France, Beaune said: “This is why we must coordinate (across the EU), to be more efficient.”
Having kept its borders all but shut for three years, imposing a strict regime of lockdowns and relentless testing, Beijing abruptly reversed course toward living with the virus on Dec. 7, and infections have spread rapidly in recent weeks.