covid: As China records high Covid cases, the United States will now require a negative test from travelers to China, Hong Kong and Macau, reports news agency ABC News. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made the announcement on Sunday.
In a statement, the CDC said, “Given the lack of adequate and transparent epidemiologic and viral genomic sequence data, CDC is investigating the spread of COVID-19 in the United States during the surge in COVID-19 cases in the People’s Republic of China.” This step has been announced to slow the spread of the virus that is being reported from the PRC,” the CDC said in a statement.
When will it come into existence?
According to the statement, the United States will require travelers from China to test negative for COVID before entering the country. Deaths due to Covid in China have increased by 9,000 people per day, according to a data firm, reports news.com.au, an Australia-based publication.
The News.com.au report also said, “British-based research firm Airfinity has estimated that the number of people who have died of Covid in China has doubled as the number of infections rises. Zero-Covid came after health measures were lifted. November that was years in the making.”
Which countries require a negative COVID test from Chinese travelers?
Notably, countries such as Australia, Canada, France, the UK, Italy, Spain, Japan and India announced mandatory Covid testing for travelers from China amid the ‘rapidly evolving situation’.
Earlier, Italian officials said about half of passengers on two flights from China to Milan tested positive for the virus on Wednesday. Public health experts told ABC News that while they understand why the US announced the measure, it is not a viable long-term solution. “One would imagine that the plane, if people are traveling and they have Covid and they don’t know it, would be much safer,” Dr Peter Chin-hong told ABC News.
“So, I guess the fear, and the rationale for having this kind of travel ban, is to prevent the scarier variant from coming, or at least delay it.”
Covid cases are on the rise in China
China has not reported any evidence of the new variant, but they have also been accused of undercounting cases, hospitalizations and deaths. For example, China’s National Health Commission says the country has seen only 5,241 Covid deaths since the pandemic began, while Johns Hopkins data shows China has more than 16,000 deaths since the pandemic began. There have been deaths.
(With inputs from ANI)
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