Mandatory COVID testing for travellers from China defies clear logic

It was only days ago that the Australian government decided it would resist following panicked moves by other countries to impose mandatory COVID tests and quarantine on travellers from China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s decision at the end of last year to relax his three-year pursuit of COVID-zero policies brought on a huge wave of cases with millions of infections a day, prompting the United States to block travellers from China unless they provide proof of a negative test.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had said he would take medical advice to keep our borders open and not impose new restrictions, while continuing to monitor the situation. Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly was comfortable with the current arrangements because Australians had already been exposed to variants that were believed to be circulating in China.

The Herald supported the decision against imposing new restrictions and continues to believe they are not necessary, based on available information and scientific evidence.

But on January 1, the Australian government announced that it would join other nations, including the US, United Kingdom, India and Japan, in demanding proof of negative tests taken 48 hours before departure for flights from China, Hong Kong and Macau from 12.01am on January 5. This sudden about face appears to defy science-based logic.

While Health Minister Mark Butler stressed the new testing requirement was out of an “abundance of caution”, he appeared to be making policy on the run without providing a convincing explanation for its basis.

The apparent rationale is that the new testing requirement will somehow help address concerns from the World Health Organisation over a lack of comprehensive information about the situation in China and that other countries across North America, Europe and Asia had introduced similar restrictions. Butler argues that this so-called modest measure will somehow help us gather data that the international community is missing.

But there has been no convincing explanation for how the testing requirement will provide Australia or other nations with information about the emergence of any new COVID strains in China. Nor is it clear that we can even be confident that the test results will be reliable.

As of Monday, the government had still not decided whether it will require a PCR or rapid antigen test, saying it was still working through the fine detail despite the looming Thursday deadline now just days away.

The Australian Airports Association and airlines are also complaining that they are yet to be told if the many passengers who fly through Hong Kong or transit through mainland China will need to take a COVID-19 test before they arrive in Australia. This information is urgently needed.