Passengers queue to check-in at the international airport in Hong Kong on Dec. 28. Photo Peter Park / AFP via Getty Images
A number of countries are stepping up COVID-19 requirements for travelers coming from China amid an uptick in cases in the country.
Driving the news: China's deaths connected to the coronavirus are rising just as the government loosened its travel restrictions and opened its borders for overseas travel.
Details: U.S. health officials announced Wednesday that they'll require travelers from China to show a negative COVID-19 test result before flying to the country.
- Japan will require a negative COVID-19 test upon arrival, and those who test positive will be required to quarantine for a week, Reuters reports.
- Taiwan will also test arrivals from China for COVID-19 starting Jan. 1, the county's Central Epidemic Command Centre announced Wednesday.
- India, meanwhile, has instituted a COVID-19 test policy for travelers arriving from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand, according to the county's federal health minister. International passengers arriving at its airports will also randomly be tested for the virus.
- Italian health authorities said they'll begin testing all arrivals from China after about half of the passengers on two flights to Milan were found to be carrying the virus, per Bloomberg.
The other side: Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for China's foreign minister, accused Western countries of "hyping up" and "distorting China's Covid policy adjustments," per BBC.
- He added that countries should have a "science-based and proportionate" response to COVID-19, calling for "joint efforts to ensure safe cross-border travel, maintain stability of global industrial supply chains and promote economic recovery and growth."