At Tongren Hospital in Shanghai, China, January 3, 2023 (AFP / Hector RETAMAL)
Beijing on Tuesday condemned the imposition of Covid tests by a dozen countries on travelers from China, when a very large majority of members of the European Union were in favor of such a measure.
“Some countries have put in place entry restrictions aimed only at travelers from China. This is without scientific basis and some practices are unacceptable,” said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning. China may “take countermeasures, according to the principle of reciprocity”.
In recommendations, a committee of health experts from the 27 EU members (Health Security Committee) pleaded in Brussels on Tuesday for the imposition of tests on travelers coming from China “by an overwhelming majority”, according to a door- word of the European Commission.
They also studied the wearing of masks, the control of aircraft wastewater and increased testing, with genomic sequencing, at arrival airports, in order to identify possible new variants.
“These measures should be targeted at the most appropriate flights and airports and implemented in a coordinated manner (across the EU) to ensure their effectiveness,” the spokesperson said. A new European meeting is scheduled for Wednesday on this subject.
Austria announced on Tuesday its decision to analyze wastewater from planes arriving from China.
In Washington, the spokesperson for American diplomacy for his part assured that the American requirement to present a negative Covid-19 test at the country’s borders for travelers coming from China was based “only on science” and n was based only “on public health concerns”.
“This is a part of the world where we have concerns about transparency,” added the Australian Minister of Economy, who is implementing similar measures from Thursday.
Asked whether the restrictions were politically motivated, the minister replied that he did not see it “precisely that way”.
China’s statements come nearly a month after China’s surprise lifting of its health restrictions on December 7, a decision which has since led to an influx of patients in hospitals and Covid victims in crematoriums.
Beijing no longer imposes quarantine on people arriving from abroad but continues to request a negative PCR test from travelers and has not issued tourist visas for almost three years.
More than a dozen countries have imposed Covid tests on passengers arriving from China in recent days, worrying about the lack of transparency on infection figures and fearing the appearance of new variants.
“I think that we are in our role by protecting the French and by asking for tests”, reacted Tuesday on a radio the French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. “We will continue to do so”.
– 100 ambulances per day –
China is currently facing its worst outbreak ever. In Shanghai in particular, two thirds of the inhabitants could have had the Covid in recent weeks, estimated Tuesday a senior official of one of the main hospitals in the city.
At Tongren Hospital in Shanghai, China, January 3, 2023 (AFP / Hector RETAMAL)
Economic capital of China, the city of 25 million inhabitants had been placed under strict confinement for two months from April. Many of them had been taken to quarantine centres.
Now the Omicron variant is spreading there very quickly.
In other major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Tianjin (North), Chongqing (South-West) and Canton (South), health authorities believe that the peak has already passed.
Dr. Chen, also a member of Shanghai’s Covid expert council, said his hospital was receiving 1,600 emergency admissions per day – double the period before the restrictions were lifted – with 80% of them being sick. of the Covid.
– Chinese New Year –
At Tongren Hospital in Shanghai, AFP journalists saw patients receiving emergency care outside the building on Tuesday, overwhelmed by the influx of patients.
The hallways were filled with dozens of elderly patients, lying on beds and having IVs. Some wore oxygen masks.
At Tongren Hospital in Shanghai, China, January 3, 2023 (AFP / Hector RETAMAL)
This wave of Covid in major cities is expected to soon hit rural areas of China, where health services are less provided, as millions return to their home provinces to celebrate the Lunar New Year from January 21. .
In an interview with state television CCTV on Monday, Jiao Yahui, an official with the National Health Commission (NHC), acknowledged that the expected outbreak in the countryside posed a “tremendous challenge”.
“What worries us the most is that for the past three years, no one has returned to their province for the Lunar New Year, but this year it is finally possible,” she said.