Chinese travelers facing COVID-19 testing requirements from more countries amid outbreak

China is dealing with an explosive outbreak of COVID-19 as health officials relax their draconian “zero-COVID” containment policy, prompting several countries around the world to mandate tests for Chinese travelers. 

The U.S. cited the surge in infections as well as a “lack of adequate and transparent epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data” from China’s government in announcing a testing requirement last week. 

Italy also mandated tests for Chinese travelers last week after more than half of all passengers on arriving flights at Milan’s Malpensa airport tested positive for COVID-19. 

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The European Union will hold an Integrated Political Crisis Response meeting on Wednesday to decide if entry restrictions throughout the 27-nation bloc should be required. 

Australia announced on Monday that travelers from China, Hong Kong, and Macau will have to undergo pre-departure testing for COVID-19. 

“This decision has been made to safeguard Australia from the risk of potential new emerging variants, and in recognition of the rapidly evolving situation in China and uncertainty about emerging viral variants,” Australia’s Department of Health explained. 

Canada, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, and other countries have implemented similar restrictions on arrivals from China. 

China’s zero-COVID strategy kept millions of people on lockdown for weeks at a time, but the government abruptly started loosening that policy last month following mass protests. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.