Despite the country’s top medical officer urging against the decision, Australia has implemented COVID-19 testing for travelers from China, according to a recently leaked letter.
Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly wrote to Health Minister Mark Butler on Saturday to express his disbelief that new travel regulations for visitors from China had any legitimate basis in the interests of public health.
The high rate of vaccination and prior infection in Australia, as well as the fact that the BF.7 Omicron subvariant that appeared to be responsible for cases in China was already present there, among other factors, Kelly claimed there was insufficient “public health rationale” for new travel restrictions.
Health officials in the Australian states and New Zealand were “very united” in their belief that travel restrictions from China would be “inconsistent with the present national approach to the management of COVID-19 and disproportionate to the danger.”
Instead of imposing travel restrictions, Kelly advised the government to increase wastewater testing, implement volunteer sample for international arrivals, and enhance follow-up for those who test positive for COVID-19 and have recently traveled abroad.
Butler disregarded the advise and said the next day that visitors from China, including those from Hong Kong and Macau, would need to present a negative COVID result within 48 hours after travel.
According to Butler, he made the choice “out of an excess of caution, taking into mind the dynamic and shifting situation in China and the possibility for new varieties to develop in a setting of high transmission.”
Butler did not elaborate on the specifics of the counsel he received when he said Kelly had “briefed extensively” him at the time. Since then, Butler has justified the actions, calling them “quite modest” and “a balanced decision.”
Late on Monday night, the Department of Health and Aged Care website in Australia posted Kelly’s letter to Butler.
Australia’s action came after the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, India, Japan, Taiwan, Italy, France, and Spain all announced similar steps.
Canada also disclosed on Saturday that it would start testing Chinese arrivals on January 5.
Authorities have raised worries that an increase in cases in China after Beijing scrapped its strict “zero-COVID” policy could result in the creation of new and more dangerous varieties.
The testing measures have drawn criticism from some health professionals, who claim they won’t do much to halt the spread of new variations and run the danger of inflaming xenophobia.
The testing regulations have been criticized by China as being “unnecessary,” and the country’s state-run media has denounced the actions as “unfounded” and “discriminatory.”
China will no longer need new entrants to undergo a mandatory quarantine beginning on January 8 after three years of stringent border controls, but all new arrivals will still be subject to COVID testing.
