China’s flip-flop on covid-19  worries the world

AFP- BEIJING, CHINA/ The sudden turn in Beijing’s anti-covid policy generated nervousness in the world, starting with the United States, which is studying restrictions for travelers from the Asian giant.

China removed the quarantine requirement for foreign visitors from January 8, the last measure in force in its rigid zero-covid policy.

The initiative sparked jubilation among the Chinese population, who rushed to buy international air tickets.

But hospitals and crematoriums across China continue to be overwhelmed, mainly by the arrival of the elderly.

AFP journalists on Wednesday saw dozens of covid patients, mostly elderly, lying on stretchers in the emergency areas of hospitals in Tianjin, 140 km from Beijing.

A doctor admitted that medical staff will have to keep working even if they test positive for the coronavirus.

Other countries expressed concern about the possibility of new variants emerging due to the rise in infections in China.

US officials said late Tuesday that the country is considering imposing restrictions on travelers from China, after Japan, India and other states decided to require PCR tests for passengers arriving from China.

“The international community is increasingly concerned about the continuing outbreaks of COVID-19 in China and the lack of transparent data, including viral genomic sequence data, reported” by China, the US officials said.

Washington “considers taking similar measures” to that of countries such as Japan and Malaysia, they added.

 Italy decided on Wednesday to impose mandatory tests on all travelers from China.

Taiwan said Wednesday that visitors to China will have to undergo diagnostic tests.

Beijing’s easing measures ended the zero-covid regime, with mass testing, lockdowns, and extensive quarantines that paralyzed its economy and sparked protests across the country.

“The current development of the Chinese epidemiological situation is predictable and controlled,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday.

“The exaggeration, defamation, and political manipulation with ulterior motives do not stand the test of the facts,” added Wang, who called the Western press’s coverage of the covid in China “totally biased”.