Travelers from China enter Greece without checks despite the government’s decision last week to demand a negative COVID-19 test and masks.
A report on SKAI TV on Thursday said that confusion prevails at Athens International Airport. Travelers arriving from Shanghai on the weekly flight were not checked for a negative test, and they were freely admitted into the country.
Greece announced last Thursday that it has decided to adopt the EU recommendations concerning travel from China in the wake of a surge of COVID cases in the Asian country.
On Wednesday, EU nations recommended imposing new restrictions. “The Member States agreed on a coordinated precautionary approach in…light of COVID-19 developments in China,” said a statement.
The designated measures requested for travelers from China are a negative COVID-19 test forty-eight hours prior to departure and the use of a high-protection mask.
The EU decision also provides for random checks of passengers arriving from China and sequencing of all positive results to strengthen surveillance of the epidemiological situation.
It also provides for control measures regarding sewage from airports with international flights and aircraft arriving from China.
Air China’s flights to Greece
In late December 2022, Air China launched a new direct flight between China’s largest city Shanghai and Athens at Athens International Airport, the first direct flight between the two cities.
It was one of two direct flights operated by Air China each week, linking Greece to China.
The Athens-Beijing direct air link, inaugurated in 2017, was suspended in the winter of 2020 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It resumed last summer.
China criticizes testing requirements for travelers
Officials in China have criticized recently imposed testing requirements on travelers from the country and threatened to take reciprocal countermeasures.
China currently requires foreign visitors to present a negative COVID-19 test before entering the country, as well as to quarantine for eight days following their arrival. Beijing scrapped the confinement requirement but will continue to demand proof of negative COVID-19 tests from visitors from abroad.
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