“The measures should not affect normal travel,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told the Beijing press on Tuesday. She also pointed out that Chinese authorities had shared information about the recent spread of the virus in China with other countries in a “timely, open and transparent” manner.
The spokeswoman thus responded to the test requirement for travelers from China, which some countries have introduced for fear of possible new virus variants. Mao Ning said experts see no need for this, as variants could emerge anywhere in the world. Answers must be “science-based and appropriate”. “No one should take the opportunity to engage in political manipulation or discriminatory reactions.” Since 2020, China itself has imposed strict entry restrictions, hardly issued any visas and demanded quarantine until December.
China has also submitted genome data from recent cases to the Munich-based global science initiative GISAID, which promotes free access to information about flu and Covid-19 viruses. “A few days ago” there was also a virtual meeting between Chinese authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO), in which both sides exchanged information about the current situation, clinical treatments, vaccinations and other technical issues, Mao Ning said.
After nearly three years of lockdowns, mass testing and enforced quarantine, China abruptly announced an end to its zero-Covid policy on December 7. The most populous country in the world is currently experiencing a huge corona wave, which mainly affects people who are old or who have been ill before. Hospitals are overwhelmed, crematoria can’t cremate the corpses fast enough. It is estimated that tens of thousands were killed. China no longer publishes figures on the contamination situation.
According to officially unconfirmed internal estimates, 248 million people or 18 percent of the population were infected with Corona in the first three weeks of December alone. The wave has peaked in major cities and is engulfing the countryside this month, state media said.
(SDA)