The British government has performed a major U-turn by imposing Covid checks on travellers from China from 5 January, after criticism from a growing number of Conservative MPs over his “dithering”, the Guardian reports.

After a series of seemingly mixed messages about whether the UK would follow the lead of Spain, Italy, Israel, the US and India in screening arrivals, the prime minister backed the move to bring the UK into line with its allies in a change of policy on Friday.

The UK Health Security Agency will also initiate surveillance from 8 January, which will see a sample of passengers arriving in England from China tested for the virus as they arrive.

Covid-19 cases in China continue to surge after Beijing’s abrupt decision to end most of its strict pandemic restrictions. Concerns about the ability to track any potential new variants have led No 10 to bring forward a “clarification” promised by defence secretary Ben Wallace earlier this week.

Because travel is a devolved matter the decision will affect England only. However, all direct flights from China are said to land in England.

The government said airlines will be required to check that passengers from China have a negative Covid test before departure, with travellers required to show evidence that their result was negative.

The move is designed to align with the US’s policy, and is being taken because of what the government believes is a lack of reliable data from China.

The health secretary, Steve Barclay, said the UK was taking a “balanced and precautionary approach”, describing the measures as “temporary” while officials assess the latest Covid-19 data.