Following Beijing’s
announcement that its borders will reopen the following week, the US has joined
a growing list of nations requiring Covid testing of travelers from China.
While Australia and
the UK stated that there were no new regulations for travelers from China,
Italy, Japan, Taiwan, and India declared the requirement for testing.
China will begin allowing
more citizens to travel freely on January 8 after being blocked to the outside
world for three years.
However, the nation’s
constant Covid rise has higher thought.
Analysts believe that
China’s reported daily caseload of 5,000 cases is significantly understated and
may perhaps be closer to a million. According to reports, hospitals are
overburdened and citizens are having trouble getting access to essential
medications.
The US said on
Wednesday that it will start requiring Covid tests for visitors entering the
nation from China, Hong Kong, and Macau as of 5 January due to a lack of
“sufficient and transparent” Covid data in China.
In order to
“help restrict the spread of the virus as we try to identify any potential
new variations that may develop,” according to the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
Coronavirus
regulations should only be implemented on a “scientific” basis,
according to Beijing’s foreign ministry, which also said that Western nations
and the media were “hyping up” the issue.
On the blocked social
media sites in China, several users expressed anger.
“I believed that
all of the foreign nations had become more open. Is this not racist?” read
a Weibo remark that received 3,000 likes. Regardless of nationality, the US has
stated that testing is necessary for everyone arriving from China or via a
third country.
Others, though,
indicated they were aware of the rationale behind the limits: “This is
nothing compared to all the restrictions we have for individuals entering into
China,” one person said.
Beijing just made the
decision to lift the arrivals quarantine announcement on Monday, essentially
enabling domestic and international travel for the first time since March 2020.
Anyone entering China had to undergo quarantine at state facilities until this
week.
China has previously
been the top market for international travel. But considering that there are
few planes available and many individuals need to renew their passports, it’s
uncertain how many Chinese would go overseas after January 8.
The response of the
international community has varied, with the UK and Australia stating that they
were keeping an eye on the Covid issue in China but had no plans to announce
additional testing criteria.
Others have announced
limits quickly:
- Beginning on Friday,
visitors from China will have their Covid checked at the airport in Japan. The
quarantine period may last up to seven days for those who test positive. There
will also be fewer flights to and from China. - Travelers to India
from China and four other Asian nations are required to present a negative
Covid test before arrival. Additionally, positive travelers will be
quarantined. - According to Taiwan,
from January 1 to January 31, passengers arriving on aircraft from China as
well as by boat at two islands would be required to do Covid tests. Those who
test positive might stay home and isolate themselves. - Malaysia, meanwhile,
has implemented new tracking and surveillance procedures. - Additionally, Italy
has made Covid testing for travelers from China mandatory.
In response to
China’s Covid rise, the European Commission said that its health security
committee will meet on Thursday to explore “potential steps for a
coordinated EU strategy.”
However, Italy, an EU
member and the virus’ epicenter in late 2019 and early 2020, declared that it
was taking the initiative to “guarantee the surveillance and
identification” of any new viral variations.
This week’s flights
landing in Milan were already screening Chinese passengers. Authorities
discovered 52% of passengers on one aircraft that landed on December 26 had the
Covid virus.
According to
preliminary examinations of travelers arriving from China who tested positive
for Covid, 15 of them had Omicron versions that were already prevalent in
Italy, according to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. She said the news was really
comforting.
Ms. Meloni is
advocating for testing Chinese travelers across the entire EU, claiming that
Italy’s own procedures could otherwise be useless. Italy is one of the 26
European nations that make up the borderless Schengen zone.
The growth of China’s
pandemic situation is presently generally foreseeable and under control,
according to China’s foreign ministry, which made this statement on Wednesday.
This week’s flights
landing in Milan were already screening Chinese passengers. Authorities
discovered 52% of passengers on one aircraft that landed on December 26 had the
Covid virus.
According to
preliminary examinations of travellers arriving from China who tested positive
for Covid, 15 of them had Omicron versions that were already prevalent in
Italy, according to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. She said the news was really
comforting.
Ms. Meloni is
advocating for testing Chinese travellers across the entire EU, claiming that
Italy’s own procedures could otherwise be useless. Italy is one of the 26
European nations that make up the borderless Schengen zone.
The growth of China’s
pandemic situation is presently generally foreseeable and under control,
according to China’s foreign ministry, which made this statement on Wednesday.
However, since
officials no longer require instances to be recorded and have altered
categories for Covid fatalities, it is unknown how many cases and deaths there
are on a daily basis in China. Authorities said on Sunday that they would
likewise stop publishing daily case counts.
According to Dr.
Chandrakant Lahariya, an Indian epidemiologist and expert in health systems,
“the infection rise in China is on predicted lines.”
“Cases will
increase if you have a vulnerable population that hasn’t been exposed to the
virus. The rest of the world has not altered at all.”
China’s contentious
zero-Covid policy, which President Xi Jinping had personally backed, has come
to an end with the country’s decision to reopen its borders.
Beijing persisted on
an anti-virus eradication strategy that included widespread testing and strict
lockdowns even as the rest of the globe adjusted to live with the illness.
Due to the
deteriorating economy and growing anger among the populace, there were sporadic
demonstrations against Mr. Xi and his administration in November. Beijing
started to relax the restrictions a week later.