From January 5, passengers flying from mainland China to England will be required to present a negative result of a PCR test performed at origin within two days prior to departure.
This, which can be seen as a major step backwards in the policy of openness that the world has been taking over the last year, follows the example of other countries such as the United States, Spain, Italy, Japan and India, which have taken similar measures in the face of concern generated by the outbreak of contagions in China after abandoning its “zero COVID” policy.
“As Covid cases in China rise ahead of them reopening their borders next week, it is right for us to take a balanced and precautionary approach by announcing these temporary measures while we assess the data. This allows our world leading scientists at the UK Health Security Agency to gain rapid insight into potential new variants circulating in China,” said Steve Barclay, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
“The best defence against the virus, however, remains the vaccine. NHS staff have done an incredible job delivering over 150 million jabs across the UK. It isn’t too late to come forward, for your first, second, third, or autumn booster – it’s quick and easy and you can book online, on the NHS app, or just turn up at one of the many walk-in centres across the UK,” he added.
The measure applies specifically to England, not the whole UK, as only Manchester and London have non-stop flights with mainland China. But work is underway to have it implemented in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well.
In addition to the pre-departure test, on arrival at London Heathrow airport some passengers will have to undergo another test, and the positive results will be sent for analysis to identify potential new variants that may be circulating in China and evade the immune response of those already vaccinated.
So far the results provided by both China and other countries suggest that the circulating variants are the same as those already seen in the UK and Europe.
According to information gathered through Cirium, there are currently only six weekly flights between the UK and mainland China, linking London-LHR with Beijing (Air China), Shanghai (Air China and China Eastern), Guangzhou (China Southern) and Qingdao (Beijing Capital Airlines), and Manchester with Beijing (Hainan Airlines). This represents an offer of 1,795 seats each way.
