Immediately after the abrupt abandonment of his strategy ” zero covid“, in early December, and the lifting of mandatory quarantines on arrival on its territory, China is facing an unprecedented outbreak of covid-19 cases as well as an increase in deaths as well as a saturation of its hospitals despite a fairly strong health system.
Faced with this situation, several countries have taken health and preventive measures to deal with the worrying epidemiological situation in China, which is only getting worse, thus fearing the appearance of more virulent variants.
In this sense, and so as not to repeat the same mistake » that at the start of the pandemic in 2020, the Member States of the European Union made several recommendations to combat the explosion of covid cases in China, as well as several other countries such as Australia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Israel, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, India, Qatar, Ghana and Morocco.
Among the first countries to have anticipated a probable worsening of the already worrying epidemiological situation in China, Japan, which at the end of 2022 implemented new rules for travelers from mainland China, who today are also subject to mandatory testing on arrival while limiting flights from China. People who test positive will still be quarantined for 7 days in designated facilities.
On the EU side, and since this Thursday, January 5, France has decided to impose a negative PCR or antigen test of less than 48 hours on all people arriving in France from China, the same for Germany, l Italy and Spain which also require a screening test.
Sweden has also announced that authorities will require negative tests for all travelers from China, except Swedish citizens and EU residents, starting Saturday, January 7.
Australia, and due to the “lack of complete information” provided by Beijing on the wave of contamination, also required a negative test, for all travelers coming from China including Hong Kong and Macau, before entering its country. territory.
Canada has done the same. A test of less than 48 hours is required before leaving China, as is the United Kingdom, which has also reserved the possibility of testing ” a sample of arriving passengers to monitor the appearance of new variants.
Israel, which has also required a negative test result for all travelers from China, has taken another preventive measure, that of setting up a screening center to test voluntary arrivals.
India also requires a negative test result less than 72 hours before departure from China and other Asian countries, while Qatar requires a negative test less than 48 hours before the departure flight from China, noting that people who test positive on arrival will have to respect sanitary isolation.
The only country to have taken a measure let’s say ” draconian“, is Morocco, which announced, from Tuesday January 3 and until further notice, the ban on entry into its territory to all travelers from China, regardless of their nationality. The goal is “to avoid a new wave of contamination in the country and all its consequences”, assured the Department of Foreign Affairs. The move comes due to a health system in Morocco that remains fragile and would not support another surge in cases, especially severe ones.
According to China, the pandemic situation “ remains controllable »
Faced with restrictions affecting travelers from China, Beijing has again defended its anti-covid policy, stressing that it shares “ an open way » Pandemic information with the World Health Organization (WHO).
Thus, Beijing claimed to have always maintained close communication with the WHO and shared information relating to the pandemic of “ in an open, timely and transparent manner in accordance with the law, ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters.
The official added that the Chinese side will continue technical exchanges with the WHO, pointing out that Beijing shared the genome sequences of the virus at an early stage, thus making an important contribution to the research and development of drugs and vaccines. in several countries around the world.
Referring to the overall situation in the country, Mao Ning said that the pandemic situation “remains controllable “. According to government health experts, the country, which recently dismantled all pandemic control measures, will face three successive waves of infections that will last until next March.