US to require negative COVID-19 test for travellers from China — but Canada not changing policy yet
The US announced new COVID-19 testing requirements Wednesday for all travellers from China, joining other nations that have imposed restrictions because of a surge of infections. Beginning Jan. 5, all travellers to the US from China will be required to take a COVID-19 test no more than two days before travel and provide a negative test before boarding their flight. The testing applies to anyone two years and older. Canada has not imposed any new testing requirements for people coming from China. Ellen Kennedy, a spokesperson for Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, said Canada is monitoring COVID-19 case numbers and following the advice of public health officials. "As of now, travellers are not required to provide a COVID-19 test upon arrival in Canada, however we continue to monitor the situation and keep Canadians safe," Kennedy said. In a statement explaining the testing, the US CDC cited the surge in infections and what it said was a lack of adequate and transparent information from China, including genomic sequencing on the viral strains circulating in the country. "These data are critical to monitor the case surge effectively and decrease the chance for entry of a novel variant of concern," the CDC said. Some scientists are worried the COVID-19 surge in China could unleash a new coronavirus variant on the world that may or may not be similar to the ones circulating now. That's because every infection is another chance for the virus to mutate. "What we want to avoid is having a variant enter into the U.S. and spread like we saw with delta or omicron," said Matthew Binnicker, director of clinical virology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. But the CDC's action may be less about stopping a new variant from crossing US borders and more about increasing pressure on China to share more information, said Dr. David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, adding he hopes the restrictions "aren't kept in place longer than they need to be."<br/>
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US to require negative COVID-19 test for travellers from China — but Canada not changing policy yet
The US announced new COVID-19 testing requirements Wednesday for all travellers from China, joining other nations that have imposed restrictions because of a surge of infections. Beginning Jan. 5, all travellers to the US from China will be required to take a COVID-19 test no more than two days before travel and provide a negative test before boarding their flight. The testing applies to anyone two years and older. Canada has not imposed any new testing requirements for people coming from China. Ellen Kennedy, a spokesperson for Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, said Canada is monitoring COVID-19 case numbers and following the advice of public health officials. "As of now, travellers are not required to provide a COVID-19 test upon arrival in Canada, however we continue to monitor the situation and keep Canadians safe," Kennedy said. In a statement explaining the testing, the US CDC cited the surge in infections and what it said was a lack of adequate and transparent information from China, including genomic sequencing on the viral strains circulating in the country. "These data are critical to monitor the case surge effectively and decrease the chance for entry of a novel variant of concern," the CDC said. Some scientists are worried the COVID-19 surge in China could unleash a new coronavirus variant on the world that may or may not be similar to the ones circulating now. That's because every infection is another chance for the virus to mutate. "What we want to avoid is having a variant enter into the U.S. and spread like we saw with delta or omicron," said Matthew Binnicker, director of clinical virology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. But the CDC's action may be less about stopping a new variant from crossing US borders and more about increasing pressure on China to share more information, said Dr. David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, adding he hopes the restrictions "aren't kept in place longer than they need to be."<br/>
