BEIJING, December 30 (Reuters) – Chinese state media said COVID-19 testing requirements imposed worldwide in response to the growing wave of infections were “discriminatory” in the most public appeal ever against restrictions slowing reopening. .
China, which has kept its borders almost completely closed for three years, applying a strict lockdown regime and relentless testing, abruptly reversed its course of living with the virus on December 1. 7 and a nationwide wave of infections broke out.
Some places were surprised by the scale of the outbreak in China and expressed doubts about Beijing’s COVID statistics. United States of America, South Korea, IndiaItaly, Japan and Taiwan are implementing COVID tests for travelers from China.
Malaysia said it would screen All international arrivals for fire.
The state-run tabloid Global Times described the restrictions as “baseless” and “discriminatory” in an article published late on Thursday, “The real intent is to sabotage China’s three-year COVID-19 control efforts and attack the country’s system.”
China will stop mandating the quarantine of incoming travelers from 1 January. 8. However, it will still request a negative PCR test result within 48 hours before take-off.
Italy on Thursday urged the rest of the European Union to follow in his footsteps, but France, Germany and Portugal said they saw no need for new restrictions, while Austria stressed the economic benefits of returning Chinese tourists to Europe.
Global spending by Chinese visitors was worth it More than $250 billion a year before the pandemic.
As the United States ravages the world’s most populous country, it has expressed concerns about potential mutations of the virus and China’s data transparency.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers wastewater sampling From international planes to monitor emerging new variants, the agency told Reuters.
China, a country of 1.4 billion inhabitants, reported a new COVID death on Thursday, the same as the previous day – these numbers did not match the experience of other countries after reopening.
China’s official death toll since the start of the pandemic is 5,247, compared to more than 1 million deaths in the United States. Chinese-administered Hong Kong, a city of 7.4 million, has reported more than 11,000 deaths.
UK-based health data firm Airfinity said on Thursday approximately 9,000 people He’s probably dying from COVID every day in China. Cumulative deaths in China since December reached 1, possibly 100,000, and the total number of infections reached 18.6 million.
‘EXTREME DEATH’
A team at the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention will measure the difference between the number of deaths in the current wave of infections and the number of deaths expected if the outbreak had never happened, China’s chief epidemiologist Wu Zunyou said on Thursday. By calculating the “over-death rate,” Wu said China could figure out what could potentially be underestimated.
China said it only counted deaths of COVID patients caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure as being related to COVID.
The relatively low death toll is also inconsistent with the increasing demand reported by funeral homes in various cities in China.
The lifting of restrictions in November after widespread protests filled hospitals and funeral homes across the country, as people getting intravenous drips on the roadside and hearses lined up in front of the crematorium alarmed the public.
Health experts say China has caught on unprepared A U-turn in policies long championed by President Xi Jinping.
According to a Reuters review, tenders by hospitals for essential equipment such as ventilators and patient monitors in December were two to three times higher than in previous months, suggesting that hospitals are scrambling to fill plug shortages.
experts say elderly people in the countryside may be particularly vulnerable due to insufficient medical resources. Next month’s Lunar New Year festival, when hundreds of millions of people will travel to their hometowns, will increase the risk.
ECONOMIC PROBLEMS
The world’s second largest economy is expected to slow further in the near term as factory workers and shoppers fall ill. Some economists are predicting a strong recovery from a low base next year, but concerns remain that some of the damage from the three-year restrictions may be long-term.
While consumers may need time to regain their confidence and appetite for spending after losing income during quarantines, the private sector must seek expansion funds. to cover losses occurs due to restrictions.
Heavily indebted China faces slowing demand in its main export markets, while its huge real estate sector is recovering from a series of defaults.
According to Reuters, China’s factory activities likely cooled in December as rising infections began to affect production lines. questionnaire It was shown on Friday.
Chinese airlines, however, seem to be early winners from reopening.
Written by Marius Zaharia. Edited by Gerry Doyle
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
