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Airline group IATA slams COVID restrictions on travellers from China
"It is extremely disappointing to see this knee-jerk reinstatement of measures that have proven ineffective over the last three years," said IATA director general Willie Walsh.
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Revenge travel: Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic, travelers could hardly wait to explore the world again. (Unsplash/Suhyeon Choi) (Unsplash/Suhyeon Choi)
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he head of the world's biggest airline trade body criticised travel restrictions against travellers from China in a statement published on Wednesday, arguing that such measures had proven to be ineffective in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
"It is extremely disappointing to see this knee-jerk reinstatement of measures that have proven ineffective over the last three years," said IATA director general Willie Walsh.
Starting Sunday, Japan will toughen its COVID-19 border control measures for travellers from China, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, in response to a surge of infections among such visitors.
Additional measures will require negative coronavirus tests before passengers board direct flights from China, Kishida said on Wednesday, stepping up measures adopted on Dec. 30.
Japan will continue to ask airlines to limit additional flights from China, he told a nationally televised New Year news conference.
"Necessary restrictions are still put in place as we are taking all possible measures to prevent infections," Kishida added.
The decision followed results of COVID-19 tests on travellers from China in recent days and similar measures by other countries, he said.
A Japanese health ministry tally shows 53 of 56 international travellers who tested positive for COVID on arrival at airports on Tuesday were from China.
