LONDON - The British government said it would end the requirement for people flying from Chinese mainland to the UK to provide proof of a negative pre-departure COVID-19 test from April 5.

From Friday, the UK Health Security Agency's voluntary, on-arrival testing programme of travellers arriving from China to London's Heathrow airport will also end, the government said.

The temporary measures were introduced in January.

The British government said a total of 3,374 had been tested as part of this programme to date, an average of 99 people per flight. In all, 14 positive cases were identified, none of which were variants of concern.

The latest international data indicates the COVID-19 variants observed in China continue to be the same as those already circulating in the UK, it added.

Reuters