China threatens “countermeasures” – over obligation to test travelers for Covid? 4 predictions about the course of the war in Ukraine

The Covid numbers are falling. The virus is in a difficult position due to the high level of immunity of the population, at least in Switzerland, where Corona is becoming endemic.

But that is not the case everywhere. China, for example, is currently playing out scenes reminiscent of the worst days of the pandemic over the past three years. Due to a lack of data on infections and the possibility that new variants could emerge, the US, Australia and several European countries have announced or are already introducing mandatory Covid testing for travelers from China.

The Middle Kingdom is now threatening “countermeasures”.

The threat from China

Beijing has threatened to take action against countries that impose special requirements on Chinese travelers upon entry. Switzerland has not yet announced any changes.

Today the EU advises introducing a general corona test requirement for travelers from China. In France, Italy and Spain, for example, they are already a step further. From Wednesday, anyone flying to the countries from China must show a negative test. Random checks are also carried out upon arrival. Morocco is even more radical: the North African country has banned all entry from China, regardless of the nationality of the travellers.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a briefing:

He went on to say that China strongly opposes any attempt to do so Manipulating Covid measures “for political ends”. China is therefore considering taking “countermeasures” based on the “principle of reciprocity”.

He did not specify these measures.

The situation is absurd because China itself still insists that travelers provide a negative PCR test. The five-day hotel quarantine, on the other hand, no longer applies to those entering the country from January 8.

reactions from abroad

Mao’s statements came after Australia and Canada this week joined a growing list of countries requiring travelers from China to undergo a Covid test before boarding their flight.

Several countries defended their actions after the threat from China. US State Department spokesman Ned Price said:

Because the number of Covid-19 cases in China has risen sharply and at the same time there is a lack of adequate and transparent epidemiological and viral genome sequence data from the People’s Republic.

The French Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, also defended the travel rules. She told radio station France-Info:

Australian treasurer Jim Chalmers told the national broadcaster ABC:

Asked if the request was coordinated internationally to put pressure on China, Chalmers said:

World Health Organization (WHO) officials met with Chinese scientists on Tuesday to discuss data on the spread and evolution of the outbreak.

Covid situation in China

China followed a zero-Covid strategy with strict restrictions in the country until December last year. In December, the measures were abruptly relaxed. At the same time, Chinese authorities said those entering the country will no longer be quarantined from January 8.

Since then, the virus has been spreading among the people of China. For the past month, the Johns Hopkins University dashboard listed 704,663 reported cases for the People’s Republic of China. These numbers are high in an international comparison, but not the highest, as Germany or France registered more cases in the same period. For Switzerland, 61,533 new cases were registered in the same period.

Due to the large number of infections, hospitals in China are overcrowded and many crematoria can no longer cremate the corpses quickly enough.

The fact that the virus is spreading like wildfire in China also has to do with the fact that people in China have lower immunity against the coronavirus due to the low vaccination rate, the less effective vaccine Sinovac compared to other vaccines and the infections that are not experienced, according to experts.

The spokesperson for the US State Department therefore announced that the US is willing – like the EU – to share its Covid vaccines with China.

The corona outbreak in China affects not only individuals and the health system, but also the economy. While the lockdowns of the zero-corona policy in recent months in particular weakened the Chinese (and international) economy, the business community is now burdened by the high number of infections.

Uncertainty about the variant

The US reported this week that a new virus variant was circulating in the United States: Omicron XBB.1.5. Although this variant is more contagious than its predecessors, it doesn’t seem to cause any worse cures, as American epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding explains in a tweet thread:

It is not clear internationally which variant is currently in circulation in China. This circumstance makes it difficult to predict how the outbreak in China could affect the overall pandemic situation.

In a statement on Jan. 3, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said that the variants circulating in China are also found in the EU.

Mao emphasizes that the Chinese authorities always share information about the recent outbreak of the virus with other countries in a “timely, open and transparent way”.

(yum)