In Finland, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health should take a position on whether pre-testing of Chinese tourists is necessary, according to senior infectious disease doctor Markku Broas.
Already fifty countries around the world require a negative corona test from Chinese tourists coming to the country. On Wednesday, Italy became the first in Europe to impose a corona test as a condition for Chinese tourists to enter the country.
– STM should definitely take a position on whether it makes sense to test tourists coming from China in advance, says Broas.
On Tuesday, China announced the lifting of travel restrictions, and Finland will soon start to see Chinese tourists as well after a long time. Corona is spreading fast in China, but possible new troublesome variants have not yet been encountered.
– Yes, it is something that must be followed very carefully. There are risks involved, that’s for sure, says senior infectious disease doctor Markku Broas.
– China has a huge population and there is not very good vaccine coverage. The disease has started to spread explosively, so there is a risk that new corona variants will emerge. They may be more disease-causing or circumvent this vaccine protection that we have, says Broas.
Broas now needs an assessment from the world’s major health organizations.
– WHO, CDC from the United States and of course ECDC from the European Union. I expect their evaluation very soon, he says.