The twist in China’s anti-covid policy generates nervousness around the world

The sudden turn in the anti-covid policy of China generated nervousness in the world, starting with USAwhich announced that it is considering restrictions for travelers from the Asian giant.

SIGHT: The US considers restricting the entry of travelers from China due to COVID-19

China removed the quarantine requirement for foreign visitors from January 8, the last measure in force in its rigid zero-covid policy.

The move sparked jubilation among the Chinese population, who rushed to buy international air tickets.

But hospitals and crematoriums across China remain overwhelmed, mostly for the elderly.

AFP journalists on Wednesday saw dozens of covid patients, mostly elderly, lying on stretchers in the emergency areas of hospitals in Tianjin, 140 km from Beijing.

A doctor admitted that medical staff will have to keep working even if they test positive for the coronavirus.

Other countries expressed concern about the possibility of new variants emerging due to the rise in infections in China.

US officials said late Tuesday that the country is considering imposing restrictions on travelers from China, after Japan, India and others decided to require PCR tests for passengers arriving from China.

“The international community is increasingly concerned about the continuing outbreaks of COVID-19 in China and the lack of transparent data, including viral genomic sequence data, reported” by China, the US officials said.

Given this, Washington “considers taking similar measures” to that of countries such as Japan and Malaysia, they added.

Taiwan, the self-governing island that China calls its own, said on Wednesday it would also test visitors from China.

– Predictable and controlled –

Beijing’s easing measures brought an end to the zero-covid regime, with mass testing, lockdowns and extensive quarantines crippling its economy and sparking protests across the country.

“The current development of the Chinese epidemiological situation is predictable and controlled,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday.

“The exaggeration, defamation and political manipulation with ulterior motives do not stand the test of the facts,” added Wang, who called the Western press’s coverage of the covid in China “totally biased.”

Since March 2020, passengers arriving in China had to undergo a mandatory quarantine. Solitary confinement was reduced from three to one week in June, and to five days last month, before being completely eliminated in January.

Immigration authorities said Tuesday they will reissue passports for tourism purposes starting Jan. 8 after years of strict exit controls.

– Track cases –

The winter outbreak of infections occurred before the long Chinese New Year holiday in January, when hundreds of millions of people usually travel to visit their families.

The China Center for Disease Prevention and Control reported 5,231 new cases of covid and three deaths on Wednesday, after it narrowed the criteria to define whether a death was from the coronavirus.

The reported figures could be lower than reality because people are no longer forced to report infections.

They currently use data from online consultations, hospital visits, demand for fever medicines and emergency calls to “cover the limitations in the (official) reported numbers,” Yin Wenwu, a disease control official, told reporters on Tuesday.

Faced with a lack of basic medicines, the Beijing city authorities plan to distribute Paxlovid, a remedy against covid, in local hospitals and community clinics.

The treatment developed in the United States was available online on the jd.com platform and the Meituan delivery service, but in recent days it has sold out.

Source: Elcomercio

jack

I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.