After the end of China’s “zero Covid” policy, many countries around the world fear the emergence of new variants of the virus and make decisions.
The United States is considering imposing entry restrictions on travelers from China, where authorities have abruptly eased their measures to combat Covid-19, US officials said Tuesday.
Infections soared across China as key pillars of the country’s “zero Covid” policy practiced since early 2020 were dismantled within weeks, prompting US officials to worry about the risk of new variants of the virus emerging.
The international community is concerned about the lack of transparent data
“The international community is increasingly concerned about the current COVID-19 outbreaks in China and the lack of transparent data, including viral genome sequence data, reported from the PRC,” US officials said, on condition of anonymity, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
Beijing has acknowledged that it is “impossible” to follow the evolution of the epidemic and has even stopped publishing the daily data on the health situation since Sunday. The official figures were increasingly criticized as their underestimation of infection cases and deaths had become flagrant.
States follow scientific data
But it’s the lack of genomic data that’s causing the greatest concern overseas, making it “increasingly difficult for public health officials to ensure they’ll be able to identify any potential new variables and take early action to reduce the spread,” US officials . She said.
The United States “is following scientific evidence and advice from public health experts, consulting with partners, and considering taking similar actions … to protect the American people,” it added, citing concerns expressed. by the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as measures taken by Japan, India and Malaysia. Japan will therefore resume mandatory PCR testing for travelers from mainland China from this Friday, December 30.
China’s easing of anti-Covid measures ends mass testing, lockdowns and lengthy quarantines that have disrupted supply chains and disrupted trade relations with the rest of the world. China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday (December 27) that countries should maintain “scientific and appropriate” controls on diseases that “should not affect normal human exchanges”.
