Spain to introduce Covid checks on air passengers from China

PEOPLE flying into Spain from China will have to produce a Covid vaccination certificate or show proof of a negative Covid test.

Friday’s announcement from Health Minister, Carolina Darias, comes after Italy and the United States introduced similar measures after China decided to end mandatory quarantine on arrival.

That prompted an uptake of people flying abroad from China with half the passengers arriving on flights into Italy’s Milan Malpensa airport this week testing positive for Covid-19.

Carolina Darias said: “The main concern lies in the possibility of unknown new Covid variants coming in from China.”

Darias did not say when the measure would come into force.

Barcelona and Madrid airports have direct links with China and health officials will have talks with airport managers to reintroduce procedures used earlier in the pandemic.

Spain’s move- coupled with Italy- comes after the European Union’s health agency said on Thursday that it was not planning coordinated restrictions across all of the member states.

Darias stressed that Spain and the European Union enjoy an advantage over China, where low vaccination numbers make the population very vulnerable to the virus.

“The European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention appreciates the high immunity we have in the EU, especially in our country,” Darias added.

The minister observed that ‘a significant increase in passengers from China is expected worldwide’ once restrictions definitively end there on January 8.

READ MORE: