China Overseas Chinese Network, February 22, question: Many countries relax epidemic prevention policies, overseas compatriots should pay attention!
According to the latest statistics from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, as of 12:21 on the 20th, Beijing time, a total of 423,032,160 cases of new coronary pneumonia have been confirmed worldwide, and a total of 5,880,673 deaths.
According to WHO, 15 released a new crown Weekly Epidemiological Record shows that in the six WHO regions of the world divided, in addition to the West in the Pacific increased number of confirmed cases increased 19 percent, other regions have large decline occurs.
Europe and the Americas region remains the world's two worst-affected areas, increasing the number of weeks of confirmed cases accounted for 60% and 20% of the world, Zhou increasing number of deaths were 33% and 45% of the world.
Although the epidemic has not yet ended, some countries have gradually relaxed their epidemic prevention measures recently out of their own considerations. Xiaoqiao has sorted out this, let's take a look!
South Korea
The South Korean government held a meeting of the Central Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on February 18 to finalize the social distancing measures applicable in the next three weeks and the relevant adjustment plan for the entry and exit personnel list management system.
The South Korean government stated that a more conservative response is needed before the spread of the new crown variant of Omicron, so it has decided to maintain the current general framework of epidemic prevention measures, but has made adjustments within a feasible range considering the difficulties of people's livelihood and economy.
According to the adjusted measures, starting from February 19, the closing time of public gathering places such as Korean restaurants, cafes, karaoke rooms, bathhouses, indoor sports facilities, etc. has been extended from 21:00 to 22:00, and the number of people in private gatherings will remain unchanged. 6 people.
In addition, the Korean government adjusted the method of epidemiological investigation on the same day. From February 19, public gathering places will no longer record personnel information by scanning codes, handwritten entry and exit registers, etc., but when entering and leaving restaurants and cafes, it is temporarily necessary to scan The code confirms whether the entry and exit personnel have completed the vaccination.
Japan
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on February 17 that the entry of foreign students, business people, technical interns and other foreigners for non-tourism purposes will be relaxed from March, and the number of daily arrivals will increase from the current 3,500 to 5,000. people.
In addition, newly-arrived foreigners will also be exempted from the 7-day self-quarantine at home. The specific conditions are: the entrants must come from a country with a relatively stable new crown epidemic, have been vaccinated three times, and have nucleic acid on the third day after entering Japan. The test result was negative.
A truck with a screen for precautions against the new coronavirus drives past the Shibuya intersection in Tokyo (file photo)
Canada
Recently, several provinces in Canada are gradually lift restrictions on various public and epidemic prevention.
Alberta from February 8th at midnight, when people no longer need to produce and out of various places called "vaccine passport," the new crown vaccination certificate; most places no restrictions on passenger capacity; entertainment food and beverage sales restrictions will also be canceled.
In addition, Ontario has begun to allow indoor operations such as restaurants, gyms, and theaters to resume operations with a 50% capacity limit since the end of January.
Long-term care facilities such as nursing homes have eased visitor restrictions this week, increasing the number of caregivers for each long-term care facility resident from two to four.
From February 21, indoor venues such as restaurants and cinemas will be able to lift capacity restrictions.
On January 31, local time, customers are eating in a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown in the Central District of Toronto, Canada.
Austria
On February 16, the Austrian federal government, the governors of the federal states and the national co-ordination group for the new crown epidemic held a summit and decided to lift almost all epidemic control measures from March 5. Except for some closed indoor places, which must still wear masks, Austrians social life will gradually return to normal.
At the same time, from March 5, private and public festivals and other events will no longer be subject to restrictions on the number of people, and eating and drinking will no longer be prohibited at events.
Cultural events such as concerts can also sell standing tickets, and various trade fairs will also be held.
Austrian Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein said that although the number of daily infections in Austria is still high, with an average of about 30,000 cases per day, Intensive care unit conditions are "relatively relaxed".
This also gives Austria the possibility of unblocking.
France
Recently, the French Ministry of Health announced that in view of the improvement of the epidemic situation in France, from February 28, it will no longer be mandatory to wear masks in indoor places where vaccine passes are used.
Masks are still required on public transport and indoors where vaccine passes are not used.
The French Directorate-General for Health (DGS) pointed out that the decision was made after the data indicators of epidemic activity (infection rate, testing rate, test positivity rate and the risk of cluster infection transmission), hospital data indicators, vaccine coverage and the relaxation of measures may cause The impact and other indicators are considered comprehensively.
The cancellation of the mandatory mask order marks that France's "epidemic prevention strategy is developing in a post-epidemic direction".
People are vaccinated against the new crown at a vaccination center in the Paris region (data map)
Greece
According to the Greek "China-Greece Times" report, recently, the expert committee of the Greek Ministry of Health has decided to gradually cancel the restrictions previously implemented specifically for the new crown epidemic after judging the new situation of the development of the new crown epidemic.
On February 19, for those who have been fully vaccinated with three doses of the vaccine, the official and gradual unblocking began, and the previous stricter restrictions still apply to those who have not been vaccinated.
According to the report, the adjusted epidemic prevention measures include that consumers in entertainment venues can stay in the store when they are full; schools can organize student team trips; the occupancy rate of sports venues has been increased to 50%; the utilization rate of urban public sports facilities has increased to 20%; The proportion of telecommuting in the private and public sectors dropped to 20% etc.
Italy
Italy's Deputy Minister of Health said on February 17 that the latest amendment to the epidemic prevention decree had just been approved by the House of Representatives. From March 10, public places such as theaters, cinemas, stadiums and live music venues in Italy will be allowed to consume food and beverages.
The move is a fresh sign of restarting the economy.
Members of Italy's National Council for Science and Technology said the state of emergency would not be extended, and that it would no longer be necessary to extend the state of emergency without the new variant causing a sharp shift in the infection curve.
In addition, many European countries such as Belgium, Portugal, and Germany have recently begun or are preparing to further relax epidemic prevention restrictions.
The Belgian epidemic control warning was lowered from the highest level "red code" to "orange code" on the 18th, and the control measures were further relaxed, and working from home was no longer a mandatory requirement; the Portuguese government announced on the 17th that the epidemic "disaster status" will be reduced from today to The "alert state" will cancel some epidemic prevention restrictions; the German federal and state governments reached an agreement on the 16th to relax their own epidemic prevention measures in three steps, but stressed that basic epidemic prevention measures such as wearing masks indoors and maintaining social distance will not be cancelled.
In view of the genetic diversity of the new coronavirus and the uncertainty of the new crown epidemic, the WHO and some European officials have emphasized the importance of adhering to personal protection when gradually relaxing epidemic prevention measures, and preparing for a possible rebound of the epidemic.
German Chancellor Scholz said on February 16 that "the new crown epidemic is not over", and the government still needs to prepare for possible new variants of the virus.
In addition to relaxing their own anti-epidemic measures, some countries and regions have recently relaxed their entry and exit policies.
Australia
The Australian government recently announced that it will further ease travel restrictions from February 21, 2022, opening the country to all visa holders, and tourists, business travelers and other visitors can enter without isolation as long as they complete the full vaccination against the new crown vaccine.
According to reports, according to the current travel ban in Australia, visa holders who are not fully vaccinated must hold a valid travel exemption to enter Australia, and must follow the quarantine requirements of the relevant Australian states and the isolation policies of the regional governments.
Canberra, the capital of Australia (data map)
Israel
On February 20, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett issued a statement saying that Israel will significantly ease entry restrictions.
According to the new entry policy, all travelers, as long as they submit a negative COVID-19 test certificate before traveling to Israel and after arriving in Israel, can enter the country regardless of whether they have been vaccinated or not, and do not need to undergo quarantine or submit special permits.
The policy will be implemented from March 1 this year.
Bennett said in a statement that Israel will gradually open its entry to Israel in view of the country's recent decline in the number of confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia.
Although the policy has been loosened, the current global new crown pneumonia epidemic is still severe.
Xiaoqiao reminded overseas compatriots that daily epidemic prevention cannot be relaxed.
(Source of the manuscript: WeChat official account of China Overseas Chinese Network; ID: qiaowangzhongguo; Source: China News Network, CCTV News Client, Xinhuanet, China Network, China-Greece Times, Japanese "Chinese Herald", etc.; Author: Wang Chao)