The New Zealand government said on Wednesday it would not require travellers from China to produce a negative COVID-19 test, bucking a trend that has seen a number of nations implement such measures as cases surge in China.
New Zealand’s COVID-19 minister, Ayesha Verrall, said in a statement that a public health risk assessment had concluded visitors from China would not contribute significantly to the number of cases in the country.
“There is minimal public health risk to New Zealand,” she said.
A number of countries including Britain, the United States and Australia have demanded that travellers from China produce a negative COVID-19 test over concerns about the scale of the country’s outbreak and scepticism over Beijing’s health statistics. The move has been criticised by Chinese state media as discriminatory….