ROME - Italy said on Wednesday it is imposing mandatory Covid-19 tests for travellers arriving from China, following an explosion in cases there.

“I have ordered mandatory Covid-19 antigenic swabs, and related virus sequencing, for all passengers coming from China and transiting through Italy,” Health Minister Orazio Schillaci said.

“The measure is essential to ensure surveillance and detection of possible variants of the virus in order to protect the Italian population,” Mr Schillaci said.

He added that he would report in detail to the Cabinet at a meeting later on Wednesday.

The northern Lombardy region had already introduced such screenings ahead of Wednesday’s announcement.

Milan health authorities said on Wednesday that almost half of the passengers on two flights from China tested positive for Covid-19.  

Milan’s region health chief said at a press conference on Wednesday that airport authorities tested passengers who arrived on two flights, one from Beijing and one from Shanghai.

On the first flight to Malpensa that tested passengers from China, out of 62 passengers, 35 were Covid positive, Lombardy’s health chief Guido Bertolaso said on Wednesday. On the second, 62 were positive out of 120.

Italy is now sequencing those tests to see if there are new variants coming from China, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

If a new strain is found, officials may impose stricter curbs on travel from China.

The minister did not say what measures would be imposed on travellers testing positive, but the local health chiefs in the Lombardy region around Milan and the Lazio region around Rome said they would have to quarantine in buildings set aside by the local health authorities.

Lombardy was the first region to impose a lockdown when coronavirus hit Europe in early 2020.

It is now testing arrivals from China at Milan’s Malpensa airport at least until Jan 30, the foreign ministry said.

While the high rate of passengers with the virus has put authorities on alert, one factor in Italy’s favour is its high vaccination rate.

More than 80 per cent of people are fully inoculated, according to the Word Health Organisation, and many have also received booster shots. It’s a similar story across much of Western Europe.

Coronavirus infections have surged in China as it unwinds strict controls that had adversely affected the economy and sparked nationwide protests. AFP, REUTERS, BLOOMBERG