- Virus spreads rapidly in China after political U-turn
- Japan’s newest country to require testing of arrivals from China
- EU meeting to discuss Chinese travel policy
- WHO seeks data from Chinese scientists
BEIJING, Jan 4 (Portal) – Global health officials were trying to establish the facts of the raging COVID-19 outbreak in China and try to prevent further spread as the government’s mouthpiece newspaper on Wednesday urged citizens for a “final victory” over the virus gathered.
China’s lifting of its strict virus restrictions last month unleashed COVID on a 1.4 billion population that has little natural immunity, having been protected from the virus since it emerged in the city of Wuhan three years ago.
Funeral directors have reported an increase in demand for their services, hospitals are full of patients and international health experts predict at least one million deaths in China this year.
But officially, China has reported a small number of COVID-related deaths since the policy reversal, downplaying concerns about a disease it had previously struggled to eradicate through mass lockdowns even as the rest of the world opened up.
“China and the Chinese people will surely win the ultimate victory against the epidemic,” the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece People’s Daily said in an editorial, refuting criticism of its strict antivirus regime that sparked historic protests late last year.
As it now lifts those restrictions, China has been particularly critical of some countries’ decisions to impose a COVID test on its citizens, saying they are unreasonable and lack any scientific basis.
Japan became the latest country to mandate pre-departure COVID testing for travelers from China, after similar actions by the United States, Britain, South Korea and others.
Health officials from the 27-member European Union will meet on Wednesday to discuss a coordinated response to China travel. Most European Union countries prefer pre-departure COVID testing for visitors from China.
China, which has been largely closed to the world since the pandemic began in late 2019, will no longer require quarantine on incoming travelers from Jan. 8. However, it will still require incoming passengers to be tested before embarking on their journey.
DOUBTS ABOUT DATA
Meanwhile, World Health Organization officials on Tuesday met with Chinese scientists concerned about the accuracy of Chinese data on the spread and development of the outbreak.
The UN agency had invited the scientists to provide detailed virus sequencing data and share data on hospitalizations, deaths and vaccinations.
WHO will release information about the talks later, likely at a Wednesday briefing, its spokesman said. The spokesman previously said the agency expects a “detailed discussion” on circulating variants in China and around the world.
Last month, Portal reported that the WHO has not received data on new COVID hospitalizations from China since Beijing’s policy change, leading some health experts to wonder if it could be hiding the extent of its outbreak.
China reported five new COVID-19 deaths Tuesday, down from three the day before, bringing the official death toll to 5,258, very low by global standards.
However, it is widely believed that the toll is much higher. UK-based health data company Airfinity said around 9,000 people are likely to die from COVID in China every day.
There were chaotic scenes at Shanghai’s Zhongshan Hospital, where patients, many of them elderly, jostled for space on Tuesday in crowded halls between makeshift beds where people used oxygen ventilators and were given intravenous drips.
As COVID disruptions slow China’s $17 trillion economy to its lowest growth in nearly half a century, investors are now hoping policymakers will step in to counter the slowdown.
China’s yuan hovered at a four-month high against the dollar on Wednesday after its finance minister vowed to step up fiscal expansion this year, days after the central bank said it would implement more policy support for the economy.
BOOKING BOOM
Although some countries are imposing restrictions on Chinese visitors, interest in outbound travel from the world’s most populous country is increasing, state media reported.
Bookings for international flights from China have risen 145% year-on-year in recent days, state-run newspaper China Daily reported, citing data from travel platform Trip.com.
The number of international flights to and from China is still a fraction of pre-COVID levels. The government has said it will increase flights and make it easier for people to travel abroad.
Thailand, a key destination for Chinese tourists, expects at least five million Chinese arrivals this year, the tourism agency said on Tuesday.
More than 11 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand in 2019, nearly a third of all visitors.
But there are already signs that an increase in overseas travel from China could cause problems.
South Korea, which began testing travelers from China for COVID on Monday, said more than a fifth of the test results were positive.
Authorities there on Wednesday hunted for a Chinese national who tested positive but went missing while waiting for quarantine. The person, who has not been identified, could face up to a year in prison or a 10 million won ($7,840) fine.
Reporting by Bernard Orr and Liz Lee in Beijing and Brenda Goh in Shanghai, Hyonhee Shin in Seoul and Kantaro Komiya in Tokyo; writing by John Geddie; Edited by Robert Birsel
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