To the attention of the Department of Health ahead of the increase in COVID-19 infections in China

Starting January 5, everyone returning from a trip to China must present negative proof of COVID-19 to enter the United States, regardless of your nationality or status vaccination. However, this restrictive measure, which had already been implemented in the past to control the pandemicwill not apply to Puerto Rico.

“Here, for the time being, that regulation won’t apply, because there are no direct flights from China,” the doctor said yesterday. Melissa Marzanprincipal responsible for Epidemiology of the Department of Health.

He explained that travelers from China arriving in the United States must undergo a COVID-19 test two days before their flight and submit the result before boarding. If recently infected, he added, the person must prove they had the infection more than 10 days ago.

That guideline was announced this week by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and covers all travelers two years of age or older returning from China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Transit passengers at Incheon International Airport (South Korea), Toronto Pearson International Airport and Vancouver International Airport (Canada) returning to the United States must also provide a negative test if they have been to China in the last 10 days before the flight.

“The CDC also said it will step up genomic surveillance at airports. We have already been doing this since April to identify any new variant that enters the island,” Marzán stressed.

This effort includes random testing of travelers on select flights, in a voluntary process. Also, deliver the tests that travelers have to take on day five to their homes and report them. 400 passengers attended this week alone, Marzán said. On Wednesday, the positivity of passengers entering the island was 4.5% of the tests carried out.

However, island-wide positivity was 32% yesterday, the official warned. Although there has been a slight drop this week – with 1,200 new cases a day instead of the 1,500 that were seen – the epidemiologist pointed out that this drop could be due to the irregularity of the holidayswhen many go untested, despite being suspected cases.

“The level of transmission in the community remains high, with 200-230 hospitalizations and about five deaths a day, an indicator of great concern, especially due to the vulnerability of people aged 65 and over,” he said.

In Puerto Rico, the BQ.1 variant predominates, with 65% of the sequences performed in the last three weeks.

“The World Health Organization and the CDC are monitoring the situation in China closely,” Marzán said of the “tsunami” of infections that he said unleashed in that country, in part, due to the easing of restrictive measures and low vaccination coverage .

In Puerto Rico, as of Wednesday, 241,116 doses of the bivalent vaccine have been administered, representing 9.31% of the population eligible to receive it.

According to the doctor Marcos López Casillas, head of research at the Public Health Trust, the drop in this vaccination appears to be the result of “a very tired citizenry, trying to forget that COVID exists, instead of facing it”. The dilemma, she pointed out, is that there are many asymptomatic people who continue to spread the virus, while other viruses with similar symptoms – such as influenza and mycoplasma – can cause confusion.

One worrying variant, he said, is XBB, which has already been identified in Puerto Rico and has monopolized in New York.

“I think the government will act as (the rise of COVID) unfolds. Asking for evidence is a first step, a rather cautious step back. Positivity continues to rise, and it is possible to lose control as at the beginning of the year. There is still a threat in front of the people,” she added.

The doctor Fernando Cabanillas He commented that the risk of new variants of the virus reaching Puerto Rico is high.

“A patient who is incubating the virus (and tests negative) will always sneak in. The risk is great,” she said.

The oncologist pointed out that, in densely populated countries, as happened in India, large chains of transmission facilitate the emergence of new strains. The upside, he cautioned, is that the subvariants aren’t usually as virulent and deadly, though they are more contagious.

“Without vaccination the risk remains high, not of infection, but of mortality. The most important thing we can do is vaccination. The US government is taking care of the rest, requiring the test (for travelers from China),” he concluded, underlining the importance of the bivalent vaccine as protection against new variants of COVID-19.