Australia has announced that travelers from China will be required to present negative COVID-19 test results upon arrival in the country starting January 5th, Reuters reports.
This comes as a precautionary measure due to a lack of epidemiological and genomic sequencing data from China, according to Australian Health Minister Mark Butler.
The requirement will also apply to visitors from Hong Kong and Macau.
“I want to stress that the government welcomes the resumption of travel between Australia and China,” said Butler. “However, this is a temporary measure reflecting the lack of comprehensive information about the situation in China right now.”
In addition to the negative test requirement, the Australian government is also considering other measures such as testing wastewater from airplanes and voluntary sampling at airports for arrivals.
The World Health Organization has urged Chinese health officials to regularly share specific and real-time information about the COVID-19 situation in the country in order to better assess the current surge in infections.
