President Xi Jinping said on Saturday that “light of hope is there in front of us” despite the fact that China is seeing an increase in cases of Covid-19 as a result of an abrupt relaxing of controls. Three years after the coronavirus first appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan, Beijing began to relax its stringent containment approach known as “zero-Covid” last month.
Xi Jingping says “the light of hope is right in front of us” as China faces explosion of Covid 19 cases after China abruptly lifts Covid restrictions
Since then, a huge portion of the patients in Chinese hospitals have been elderly. Additionally, crematoriums are overflowing and many pharmacies are out of anti-fever medications. “The fight against epidemics is entering a new era… Everyone is working really hard, and success is right around the corner “Xi said in a New Year’s speech that was broadcast on television.
Covid figures released by China does not reflect situation on the ground
For the second time this week, the Chinese president discussed the epidemic. On Monday, he urged measures to “fully protect people’s lives.” China announced on Saturday that out of its 1.4 billion residents, more than 7,000 new infections and one death were linked to Covid, but the published numbers don’t seem to reflect the reality on the ground. The authorities have announced they will stop asking visitors to China to undergo quarantine upon arrival on January 8 after three years of annoyance.
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European countries, Japan and United States announce they require negative tests from passengers arriving from China
As a result, a number of countries in Europe, including France, Italy, the United States, and Japan, have stated that they will only let travellers from China who have passed a negative test. This is mostly due to concerns over potential new variants. Canada declared on Saturday that it will be adding its name to the list of countries requesting negative testing in response to recent Covid events in China. “The minimal epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data available” was cited as rationale.
Morrocco Bans incoming passengers from China
Morocco, on the other hand, took a step farther and said that it would forbid any foreigners, regardless of nationality, from entering from China, “in order to avert a new wave of contaminations in Morocco and all its implications.”
Lack of information about outbreak from China is causing unease among countries all over the world
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, claims that the precautionary measures taken by various nations are “understandable” in view of the erroneous information Beijing has provided regarding the outbreak. In the absence of complete information from China, he said, “it is understandable that countries throughout the world are acting in ways they believe may protect their citizens.”
The European branch of the International Airports Council, which represents more than 500 airports in 55 European countries, denounced the increased Covid checks on Saturday. These unilateral activities, according to a statement, “are at odds with all the experience and data acquired over the past three years,” it was stated. “Increasing restrictions on travellers from this country is not risk-based or scientifically justified,” the statement reads.
The matter will be discussed by European nations at a meeting scheduled for the following week. Sweden, which will soon hold the EU presidency, stated that it was “seeking a uniform approach for the entire EU when it comes to the adoption of probable entry restrictions.”
On Friday night, the WHO revealed that it had spoken with Chinese officials about the outbreak.
The UN agency for health stated in a statement that “the WHO again requested regular exchange of precise and real-time data on the epidemiological situation — including more genetic sequencing data, statistics on disease impact including hospitalisations, intensive care unit admissions, and deaths.”
Additionally, data on vaccines was requested, particularly for elderly and vulnerable individuals.
Beijing claims that since the beginning of the pandemic, their Covid statistics have been open to the public.
Since 2020, the zero-Covid policy’s widespread testing, stringent movement surveillance, and quarantine directives have largely safeguarded the Chinese populace.
However, the tactic cut off the nation from the rest of the globe and severely damaged the second-largest economy in the world.
Also Read: Taiwan lends a helping hand to China over Covid outbreak
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