Italy to test airline passengers from China after half of travelers to Milan said to have COVID-19

All travelers arriving in Italy from China will be tested for COVID-19 after an alarming number of passengers who landed in Milan were found to have had the illness, the Italian Health Ministry announced.

The declaration, from Health Minister Orazio Schillaci, came after nearly half of the passengers on two flights from China to Milan supposedly had COVID, according to Bloomberg.

In cases where tests are positive, the ministry said they will conduct “molecular testing for virus sequencing.”

“The measure is essential to ensure surveillance and the detection of possible virus variants,” a statement on the ministry’s website said.

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In the event of the detection of a new variant, Italy may impose tougher travel restrictions on those coming from China, Bloomberg reported.

Japan, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Italy and the U.S. have also announced testing requirements for arriving passengers from China.

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The U.S. has cited the increase in infections and what is said was a lack of transparency from the Chinese government, including genomic sequencing of the virus strains in the country.

“These data are critical to monitor the case surge effectively and decrease the chance for entry of a novel variant of concern,” the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The American requirement will go into effect on Jan. 5, 2023, and will apply to all travelers, regardless of their nationality or vaccination status.

Fox News’ Julia Musto and the Associated Press contributed to this report.