It was the last vestige of the “zero covid” policy adopted by China. The mandatory quarantine upon entry into China will end on January 8 . Now all it takes is a negative test within 48 hours. A questionable decision, while the country is experiencing a Covid-19 epidemic that has since gotten out of control the lifting of all restrictions a few weeks ago .
A circulating virus
Because China is not spared the Omicron variant, which spreads faster than the original strain. But in a country of almost 1.4 billion people, the circulation of the virus creates many variations. Near 130 have already been identified by Chinese scientists . Fear: the appearance of a new, more virulent variant.
“Ultimately, if new variants are developed, different from the families of variants known so far, then we could imagine the worst”, explains Professor Didier Pittet to the microphones of Europe 1. As a direct consequence, “neighboring countries that have not had the possibility of having optimal vaccination coverage”, judges the epidemiologist.
No risk…yet
If the situation does not represent a danger for Europeans, in particular “because the populations are vaccinated with excellent vaccines”, the scientists are nonetheless monitoring the evolution of the epidemic. On the other hand, Didier Pittet is concerned about people who are not…
