A delegation from the World Health Organization met with Chinese officials to discuss the dramatic increase in the number of COVID-19 infections in their country, urging them to share real-time data so other countries can respond effectively.
A statement from the organization indicated that its delegation has again requested the regular sharing of specific data on the epidemiological situation, in real time, including additional data on genetic sequencing, the impact of the disease, cases requiring hospitalization and units of intensive care, as well as on deaths.
Germany monitors Corona mutants
Germany has instead asked to set up an observatory for variants of the virus in European airports, without imposing checks on those arriving from China.
And German Health Minister Karl Lauter-Bach said there was no need now to implement the requirement for travelers from China to undergo corona tests before entering.
France, Spain, Italy and Britain had required travelers from China to show a negative test for Corona virus infection, in procedures China has called discriminatory.
America imposes restrictions
The United States, together with Japan and several European countries, have decided to impose checks on travelers arriving from China, in the light of precautionary measures, which the head of the World Health Organization considered “understandable”, given the lack of information by Beijing after the restrictions imposed to combat Covid were lifted.
However, Chinese health authorities confirmed Thursday that they had published the data “in the interest of openness and transparency,” according to statements reported by China’s new news agency “Xinhua”.
On Friday, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced just 5,515 new cases and one death. It appears that these numbers no longer reflect reality, as large-scale testing is no longer applied.
Europe adjusts its position
Meanwhile, European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said the bloc should immediately consider stepping up genetic sequencing of Covid-19 cases and monitoring wastewater, including at airports, to detect any new strains of the virus. virus, given the increase in infections in China. .
Three years after the first cases of Covid-19 appeared in Wuhan (middle), China abruptly reversed its strict “Zero Covid” policy on December 7.
This policy, adopted since 2020, has allowed the population to be largely protected from the virus, thanks to widespread testing, rigorous movement monitoring and also mandatory and quarantine once cases are discovered.
However, these harsh measures, which kept the country largely isolated from the rest of the planet, dealt a major blow to the world’s second-largest economy and sparked extraordinary unrest in November.
Since restrictions were lifted, hospitals have been overwhelmed with patients, most of whom are elderly and frail due to a lack of vaccinations, while many pharmacies lack medicines to reduce fever.
