Australian health minister suggests pre-flight China tests designed to make Beijing share more data on Covid outbreak

Mark Butler signals measure could be lifted if China provides real-time uploading' of genomic sequencing of cases

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Australia's health minister says he wants pre-flight Covid testing for travellers from China to be temporary", suggesting the requirement could be lifted if Beijing shares more information about its outbreak.

Mark Butler suggested on Thursday - the first day of the new testing regime - that the measure was put in place as part of an international push for China to provide real-time data on the genomic sequencing of Covid cases.

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