Italy announced on Wednesday that it is imposing mandatory Covid-19 tests for travellers arriving from China after the latter witnessed a hike in cases nationwide.
“I have ordered mandatory Covid-19 antigenic swabs, and related virus sequencing, for all passengers coming from China and transiting through Italy,” Health Minister Orazio Schillaci said.
“The measure is essential to ensure surveillance and detection of possible variants of the virus in order to protect the Italian population,” Schillaci added.
Meanwhile, the northern Lombardy region already introduced such screenings ahead of Wednesday’s announcement.
Milan health authorities indicated that nearly 50% of the passengers on two flights from China tested positive for Covid-19.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Milan’s region health chief said the airport authorities tested passengers who arrived on two flights, one from Beijing and one from Shanghai.
Earlier, the American authorities noted that the US is considering imposing new Covid-19 measures for individuals coming from China.
“There are mounting concerns in the international community on the ongoing Covid-19 surges in China and the lack of transparent data, including viral genomic sequence data, being reported from the PRC,” one official stated.
He added: “Without this data, it is becoming increasingly difficult for public health officials to ensure that they will be able to identify any potential new variants and take prompt measures to reduce the spread.”
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