The United Kingdom, Italy, France, and Spain have all introduced mandatory COVID-19 tests for travellers from China.
The decision comes after cases surged following Beijing’s decision to relax its zero-Covid policy.
France’s government is requiring negative tests and is urging French citizens to avoid nonessential travel to China.
France is also reintroducing mask requirements on flights from China to France.
French health authorities will carry out random PCR tests at airports on passengers arriving from China to identify potential new coronavirus variants.
France’s hospitals have struggled in recent weeks with a large number of patients because of three concurrent outbreaks: the seasonal flu, a wave of bronchitis cases, and COVID-19.
Spain’s Health Minister Carolina Darías told reporters that the country would be pushing for similar measures at a European level following the surge in cases in China. She said coronavirus health controls would be stepped up at Spanish airports.
Spain made the announcement after Italy said it would require coronavirus tests for airline passengers from China.
The new rules take effect on Sunday, but officials said it would be a few days before they are fully in place.
Israel and South Korea also announced on Friday that they will introduce testing requirements in response to the increasing number of infections in China.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was “understandable” that some countries were imposing these fresh restrictions.
The Chinese government is reporting about 5,000 cases a day, but analysts say such numbers are vastly undercounted – and the daily caseload may be closer to one million.
The true toll of daily cases and deaths in China is unknown as officials have stopped requiring cases to be reported, and changed classifications for Covid deaths.
