China expressed confidence in achieving a comprehensive victory in the battle to control the Corona pandemic, while the United States and Italy announced that travelers from China would be required to undergo “Covid-19” tests, after Beijing’s sudden abandonment of its strict policies to contain the virus raised concerns around the world.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the death rate from the virus in China is the lowest in the world, adding that the authorities will restore the economic and social system to its previous state while preserving the health of citizens.

In response to Washington's development of new measures for people coming from China to its territory, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said that all parties should cooperate to ensure the safe travel of people from different countries.

The Chinese authorities had announced the abolition of quarantine for travelers arriving in the country, as part of measures to ease restrictions imposed since the outbreak of the pandemic.

procedures for immigrants

Meanwhile, the American “Bloomberg” agency reported that the Italian Ministry of Health had discovered that 50% of the passengers arriving on board two planes from China to Milan Airport were infected with the Corona virus, and that it was conducting additional virus tests for the infected.

The agency added, quoting the Italian authorities, that in the event of a new variant being discovered, it could “impose a ban” on those coming from China.

The United States also announced that it will require travelers from China to undergo a corona examination, thus joining other countries that have taken the same decision due to the high number of cases in China.

And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States announced that, starting from the fifth of next January, all travelers from China will be required to show a negative “Covid-19” test result for airlines upon departure.

"The recent rapid outbreak in China increases the risk of new variants emerging," a senior US health official said.

He added that Beijing had provided only limited information to global databases about the variants currently detected in China, in addition to declining testing campaigns and reporting injuries.


Washington's move follows the announcement by Italy, Japan, India and Malaysia of taking special measures to prevent the entry of possible new variants of the virus from China.

Starting Friday, Japan will re-impose PCR tests on travelers arriving from mainland China.

The Belgian news agency also reported that the mayor of Bruges called on Chinese tourists who come to the city in large numbers to adhere to "Covid-19" tests or vaccine requirements.

On the other hand, hospitals and crematoriums in China are experiencing cases of overcrowding due to the outbreak of the Corona virus, which severely affects the elderly, according to Agence France-Presse.

The wave of infections comes ahead of the Lunar New Year's Day next month, when hundreds of millions of Chinese are expected to move to their hometowns to celebrate with their relatives.

Compulsory quarantine ends

And the Chinese expressed great joy after Beijing announced last Tuesday that the mandatory quarantine periods would end upon arrival in the country on the eighth of next January.

This sudden reversal in Chinese health policy put an end to about 3 years of intensive testing and prolonged closure and quarantine measures that confused the country's supply chains and destabilized the Chinese economy, the second largest in the world.

In response to a question about the restrictions announced by Japan, the Chinese Foreign Ministry called for the maintenance of "scientific and appropriate" measures against "Covid-19 that does not disrupt human movement."

And since March 2020, all travelers arriving in China were required to adhere to a mandatory 3-week quarantine initially before reducing it to one week last June, and then 5 days last month.

Eliminating mandatory quarantine periods next month would lead to the reclassification of COVID-19 as a Class B infectious disease, allowing authorities to ease surveillance measures.

On Tuesday, the Chinese immigration authorities announced the gradual resumption of issuing passports for the purposes of "tourism" and "visiting friends abroad", starting next month.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention counted 5,231 new infections and 3 deaths nationwide on Wednesday.


Hong Kong is on the lookout

As for Hong Kong, where it adopted a softened version of the Chinese “zero Covid” policy, the authorities called on Japan, yesterday, Wednesday, to lift restrictions on direct flights coming from the city, which were adopted following the increase in infections in mainland China.

The Hong Kong Ministry of Transport expressed its "extreme disappointment" with the decision, which was hastily taken by the Japanese authorities in the peak tourism season.

She revealed that she had contacted the Japanese consulate in Hong Kong to "formally demand" the annulment of this measure, which is scheduled to enter into force on Friday.

Hong Kong implemented a watered-down version of China's "zero Covid" strategy to tackle the epidemic, but with travel restrictions imposing some of the most severe in the world, it left this business center isolated for more than two years.

The city began lifting restrictions recently, ending mandatory hotel quarantine for all arrivals.