Travellers from China will no longer need a pre-departure COVID-19 test

The Australian government has changed the rules for incoming travellers from China.

Australia will no longer require pre-departure COVID-19 tests for travellers from China. Source: AAP

KEY POINTS:

• Pre-departure COVID-19 testing for travellers from China will cease on Saturday.
• The measure was implemented in January as China grappled with a growing COVID-19 wave.
• Health Minister Mark Butler said the wave peaked in January, with hospitalisations since declining.

Incoming travellers from China will no longer be tested for COVID-19, the health minister has confirmed.

Pre-departure testing for that cohort - which included arrivals from Hong Kong and Macau - was re-enforced in January, in what the government said was out of "an abundance of caution" as China grappled with a significant virus wave.

But Health Minister Mark Butler has revealed the measure will be lifted on Saturday, saying the hospitalisations in China had peaked in late December and early January.

Mr Butler described the decision as a "sensible and mature" response to lowering case numbers.

"I would like to thank all travellers from China and airlines who complied with these testing arrangements," he said in a statement.

Health Minister Mark Butler described the decision as 'mature and sensible' given waning case numbers in China. Source: AAP / AAP / Lukas Coch

Travellers are currently required to prove a negative test result within 48 hours of their flight.

Tightened restrictions implemented by various countries in January were denounced by Beijing as "unacceptable", which warned of "corresponding measures" in retaliation.

"We do not believe the entry restriction measures some countries have taken against China are science-based," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

"Some of these measures are disproportionate and simply unacceptable. We firmly reject using COVID measures for political purposes."

Labor said Australia's ability to detect and respond to new variants had also improved since January.

The original decision was met with sharp criticism in Beijing. Source: AAP / AAP / Ichiro Ohara

Announcing the decision in January, the Health Department stressed it was designed as "precautionary and temporary" and would be subject to continual review.

"While we are no longer in the emergency phase of the pandemic response in Australia, this decision has been made to safeguard Australia from the risk of potential new emerging variants, and in recognition of the rapidly evolving situation in China and uncertainty about emerging viral variants," its statement said at the time.

But Mr Butler was also forced to defend implementing the measure, which was not recommended by chief health officer Paul Kelly, by saying he had also accepted his "positive" advice for greater surveillance via wastewater testing.

It comes after reports the United States was also set to lift pre-departure tests for travellers from China.

The New York Times reported three American officials said the decision was made on health grounds, rather than foreign policy priorities.

The White House is yet to confirm the decision.

This is a developing story and this article will be updated.

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