COVID Tests Will Also Be Required For Chinese Travelers Going To France, Australia & Canada

France will require Chinese travelers to provide a negative COVID-19 test result from fewer than 48 hours before  departure, the health and transport ministries said on Friday, December 30, 2022. The test will be mandatory for all aircraft departing China, even those with layovers. Airline passengers coming from China would also be required to wear masks.

A government official informed reporters that, beginning on January 1, France would also conduct random PCR COVID testing on select Chinese tourists upon arrival.

In addition, in response to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the People’s Republic of China and light of the limited epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data available on these cases, the Canadian government intends to implement temporary health measures for Chinese air travelers entering Canada.

At 12:01 a.m. EST on January 5, all passengers two years of age and older coming on flights from the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, or Macao will be required to give the airline proof of a negative COVID-19 test result taken no more than two days previous to departure.

These procedures will apply to all air passengers, regardless of country or vaccination status. They are 30-day temporary measures that will be reevaluated when additional data and information becomes available. The Public Health Agency of Canada is implementing a pilot study on wastewater testing from airplanes at Vancouver International Airport and extending an existing experiment with Toronto Pearson International Airport to examine the occurrence of COVID-19 in different global locations. The samples are then sequenced to detect new variations of concern.

Although it is not required, all passengers are highly advised to wear well-constructed and well-fitting masks when traveling on airplanes, at airports, and in other congested indoor environments.

People flying to Australia from the People’s Republic of China, including the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, will be subject to pre-departure COVID-19 testing. Beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, 5 January 2023, passengers to Australia will be required to undergo a COVID-19 test within 48 hours before departure and provide documentation of a negative test result. These measures are preventative and transitory, and they will continue to be evaluated based on health advice and available data.

On Friday 30^th Dec 2022, South Korea and Spain joined a growing number of nations, including the United States, India, and others, that have enforced COVID tests on Chinese passengers.