China COVID-19 wave: Amid a massive surge of Coronavirus in China, nearly half of the passengers who were travelling from Beijing to Milan tested positive for the lethal virus on Monday. According to a report by Bloomberg, the two flights of sick passengers arrived at Malpensa Airport from China on Monday and added the country has announced mandatory testing for passengers coming from the East Asian country.
As per reports, out of the 92 passengers, at least 35 reportedly turned positive for the COVID infection. While on another plane, 62 out of 120 passengers were found infected with the virus. Citing Lombardy region’s health chief Guido Bertolaso, it said that the passengers who tested positive were isolated and added officials have ramped up their contact tracing efforts.
Meanwhile, Italy’s Health Minister Orazio Schillaci, said that all passengers arriving from China including transit, have to undergo mandatory covid testing at the airports. He underscored that the measures are critical to arrest the spread of the lethal virus.
“The measure is essential to ensure the surveillance and identification of any variants of the virus in order to protect the Italian population,” New York Post quoted Schillaci as saying.
China resumes issuing passports after three years
It is worth mentioning the latest development came on the same day when China announced the resumption of issuing passports for tourism. The major step came nearly three years after the country closed its operation following a massive COVID wave. According to AP ,Travel services companies Trip.com and Qunar said international ticket bookings and searches for visa information on their websites rose five to eight times after Tuesday’s announcement. Top destinations included Japan, Thailand, South Korea, the United States, Britain and Australia. Japan, India, Italy, South Korea and Taiwan have responded to the Chinese wave of infections by requiring virus tests for visitors from China. The United States announced Wednesday that it would require testing of all travellers from China beginning January 5.
Also Read: COVID-19: China races to vaccinate elderly amid rising cases, but many are reluctant
