On Thursday, the United States joined the countries that imposed restrictions on arrivals from China, after Beijing announced the lifting of restrictions on travelers abroad, while the number of Covid-19 infections increased locally.
Hospitals and cremation centers in China are witnessing overcrowding due to the outbreak of the Corona virus, which severely affects the elderly, after Beijing suddenly abandoned its strict policies to contain the virus after the outbreak of widespread demonstrations.
This week, Beijing announced an end to imposing quarantines on arrivals in China, prompting many in China to plan travel abroad.
In response, the United States and other countries announced that they would require all arrivals from mainland China to test negative for COVID-19.
“The recent rapid outbreak in China increases the risk of new variants emerging,” a senior US health official said.
The official added that Beijing had provided only limited information to global databases about the variants currently detected in China, in addition to the decline in testing campaigns and reporting of injuries.
Washington’s move follows the announcement by Italy, Japan, India and Malaysia of special measures to prevent the entry of new possible Covid variants from China.
Beijing has criticized “exaggeration, defamation and political manipulation” by Western media regarding its response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Currently, the epidemiological situation in China is predictable and still under control,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Wednesday.
And the National Health Commission of China said that starting next month, arrivals will only be required to show a negative “PCR” test result conducted less than 48 hours before their arrival. However, some restrictions remain in place, most notably the non-issuance of visas to tourists and foreign students.
And the Chinese expressed great joy after Beijing announced, on Monday, the end of the mandatory quarantine periods upon arrival in the country, starting from the eighth of January.
On Wednesday, Italy decided to impose compulsory tests on all travelers coming from China. It is a measure imposed by Japan and adopted by the United States on Wednesday.
French President Emmanuel Macron asked the government to “take appropriate measures to protect” the French, stressing that the government was “following the development of the situation in China.”
The European Commission meets Thursday to discuss “possible measures for a coordinated approach” among EU countries to the surge of Covid-19 infections in China.
“discriminatory”
At Beijing International Airport, many Chinese people appeared Thursday to understand the new procedures, according to some Chinese travelers interviewed by AFP.
“It’s good to see our borders open,” said a traveler heading to the Hungarian capital, Budapest, adding, “Every country has its own policies. We follow these policies and go where we need to go.”
“Every country has its own concerns about protecting itself,” Huang Hongsu (21 years old) told AFP, recalling that the possibility of the spread of COVID-19 variants is of concern on the international scene.
However, he (22 years old) considered, during an interview with Agence France-Presse, that the measures were “unnecessary.” “The procedures are a bit discriminatory, and our COVID-19 policy for international arrivals applies equally,” the young man said.
“Why do other countries need to give people from China special treatment?”
Hospitals struggle
Hospitals in China are battling a surge in new COVID-19 infections.
In Tianjin, about 140 kilometers southeast of the capital, Beijing, AFP visited two hospitals overwhelmed with patients. One of them said that doctors are required to work even if they have COVID-19.
Agence France-Presse correspondents saw more than twenty patients, most of them elderly, lying on stretchers in the emergency department.
They reported that hospital staff told an elderly man who said he had COVID-19, “It takes four hours to wait for a doctor.”
China’s National Health Commission said last week that it would no longer publish an official daily death toll from COVID-19.