Covid-19: fear of the Chinese sub-variant BF.7, Beijing wants to be reassuring
Chinese people accompany their sick relatives to the emergency room at the hospital in Bahzou, northern China, on December 22, 2022. © Dake Kang / AP
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2 mins
The epidemic situation in China, where the number of cases is exploding following the sudden abandonment of the “zero Covid” policy, is worrying internationally.
Faced with the fear of seeing a new variant emerge, a meeting of the European Commission is taking place this Thursday, December 29.
Faced with these questions, China has responded to the anxieties of foreign capitals concerning in particular the transparency of data.
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With our correspondent in Beijing,
Stéphane Lagarde
The more viruses circulate, the more they mutate, says the WHO.
And the BF.7 is circulating at full speed right now in China.
Since the abandonment of the zero-Covid prevention and control policy at the beginning of the month, the sub-variant of Omicron has contaminated the Chinese megalopolises faster than a monsoon wind.
Some are concerned about the risks to an elderly population that is partly immunocompromised after three years of the country's closure and the lack of information on the epidemic, knowing that since Sunday, the National Health Commission has stopped publishing the daily report of infections.
A lack of transparency disputed, this afternoon at a press conference, by Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese center for disease control and prevention.
China reassures
“
Whenever we detect a new strain, we put it online as soon as possible, sharing it on the WHO platform, including for this epidemic, where we have detected nine strains of Omicron in circulation at the moment. .
We have shared all these results with the WHO.
We keep nothing secret.
We share all of our work with the world
,” says Wu Zunyou.
Despite the abandonment of population screening and assessments, another official at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention assured last week that three hospitals, in each region and province, were responsible for carrying out genetic sequencing. of 15 emergency cases, 10 serious cases and deaths in order to constitute a national Covid-19 database.
►Also read:
Covid-19: the concern of some EU countries over travelers from China
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