COVID mutation risk pushes to test travelers from China

COVID-19 testing requirements for passengers arriving from China highlight growing concerns about the potential for new virus strains not detected spawned by the country’s burgeoning epidemic.

When the United States mandated travelers from China to present negative test results, it also expanded a program that collects voluntary samples from international passengers at airports to help monitor variants entering the country. On Friday, the UK and France joined the rush of countries testing passengers and sequencing samples of people arriving from China in a bid to identify any dangerous new mutations that could spread rapidly through their populations. On Friday, Japan also began requiring travelers from China to produce negative test results.

The storyline echoes the early days of the pandemic, when China was criticized for not releasing key genetic data on the virus until weeks after news of the new disease became public. The country’s health officials said sentinel hospitals were monitoring mutations in samples taken from patients in emergency rooms and outpatient clinics. However, most of this data has yet to be shared internationally, according to health experts.