Vilnius Airport to test wastewater amid COVID-19 situation in China

VILNIUS - Vilnius Airport plans to start testing wastewater amid the deteriorating COVID-19 epidemiological situation in China.

The move will follow this week's EU-level consultations, Audrius Sceponavicius, a representative of the health Ministry said.

"It's is not a matter of days, but rather a matter of weeks," he said, commenting on the planned testing at Vilnius Airport. "We are now looking into ways to do that."

The EU now recommends that Chinese tourists take a COVID-19 rapid antigen test and only travel with a negative result, he said.

Also, the EU recommends that countries continue with sequencing tests. According to the Health Ministry, some 3.5 percent of cases in Lithuania are currently tested.

A rather small number of Chinese tourists (around 1,600 per year) visit Lithuania, and most of the Lithuanian population has been vaccinated or has had the disease, Sceponavicius said.

There has been "no discussion" on possible restrictions for Europeans yet, he said.

The EU held a meeting on possible restrictions on travelers from China after the world's most populous country decided to relax its strict COVID-19 restrictions and has since seen a spike in COVID-19 cases.