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Australia’s chief medical officer suggested there was not ‘enough public well being rationale’ for brand spanking new journey guidelines.
Australia has launched COVID-19 testing for travellers from China regardless of the nation’s high medical official advising in opposition to the transfer, a newly launched letter exhibits.
In a letter despatched to Well being Minister Mark Butler on Saturday, Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly stated he didn’t imagine there was a public well being justification for introducing new journey necessities for arrivals from China.
Kelly stated Australia’s excessive degree of vaccination and prior an infection, and the truth that the BF.7 Omicron subvariant that seemed to be driving circumstances in China was already circulating within the nation, amongst different causes, meant there was not “enough public well being rationale” for brand spanking new journey guidelines.
There was a “robust consensus” amongst well being officers within the Australian states and New Zealand that restrictions on journey from China could be “inconsistent with the present nationwide strategy to the administration of COVID-19 and disproportionate to the danger,” he stated.
Kelly really useful that, as a substitute of journey restrictions, the federal government contemplate increasing wastewater testing, introducing volunteer sampling for worldwide arrivals, and enhancing follow-up of people that check optimistic for COVID-19 and have a latest historical past of abroad journey.
Regardless of the recommendation, Butler introduced the next day that travellers from China, together with Hong Kong and Macau, could be required to provide a unfavourable COVID consequence inside 48 hours of journey.
Butler stated he made the choice “out of an abundance of warning, considering the dynamic and evolving scenario in China and the potential for brand spanking new variants to emerge in an surroundings of excessive transmission”.
Butler stated on the time he had been “briefed extensively” by Kelly however didn’t go into particulars in regards to the nature of the recommendation he acquired. Butler has since defended the measures as “very modest” and a “balanced resolution”.
Kelly’s letter to Butler was launched on the web site of Australia’s Division of Well being and Aged Care late on Monday evening.
Australia’s transfer adopted the introduction of comparable measures by the US, the UK, South Korea, India, Japan, Taiwan, Italy, France and Spain.
Canada on Saturday additionally introduced it might start testing arrivals from China from January 5.
Authorities have pointed to issues that surging circumstances in China following Beijing’s dismantling of its robust “zero-COVID” coverage may result in the emergence of recent and extra harmful variants.
Some well being consultants have criticised the testing necessities, arguing they’ll do little to cease the unfold of recent variants and threat stoking xenophobia.
China has criticised the testing guidelines as “pointless”, whereas Chinese language state-run media has blasted the measures as “unfounded” and “discriminatory”.
China is ready to raise its necessary quarantine for arrivals from January 8 after three years of strict border controls, however will proceed to topic all arrivals to COVID testing.
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