Half of passengers on china flight to Italy have Covid as US becomes fifth country to tighten restrictions on Chinese travellers.

Beijing’s announcement that it will issue ordinary passports and visas means millions of Chinese people could go abroad for next month’s Lunar New Year holiday – and concerns that China opening up could lead to a new global spread of COVID are already being realised.

More than half of passengers on a flight from China to Italy have tested positive for COVID-19 – as China prepares to open up its borders despite a huge surge in infections.

Two flights into Milan were among the first to see passengers subjected to new mandatory testing imposed on Chinese travellers.

Beijing’s announcement means millions of Chinese people could go abroad for next month’s Lunar New Year holiday – the first time most have been able to do so since 2020.

Travel services companies Trip.com and Qunar said international ticket bookings and searches for visa information on their websites rose five to eight times after the announcement. Top destinations included Japan, Thailand, South Korea, the United States, Britain and Australia.

In what would be a haunting repeat of early 2020, there are concerns they could spread coronavirus internationally as infections surge in the country.

Japan, India and Taiwan are now requiring virus tests for travellers from the country.

Source: Sky News