Spain to check airport arrivals from China for COVID: minister

Passengers arriving at Spanish airports from China will be screened for COVID, Madrid's health minister said on Friday, following an explosion of cases in China.

Travelers from China will have to show "proof that they are negative... or a full vaccination list", health minister Carolina Darias told a press conference.

Italy on Wednesday made coronavirus tests for visitors from China mandatory.

Coronavirus infections have surged in China, overwhelming hospitals as it unwinds hardline controls that torpedoed the economy and sparked nationwide protests.

A growing number of countries, including the United States, have imposed restrictions on all visitors from mainland China after Beijing decided to end mandatory quarantine on arrival, prompting many jubilant Chinese to make plans to travel abroad.

But the European Union's health agency said Thursday such restrictions weren't warranted in the bloc.

Chinese citizens have been largely confined to their country since Beijing pulled up the drawbridge in March 2020

© 2022 AFP