The decisions of Western countries to impose "Covid-19" tests on those coming from China amid fears and doubts about the extent of the spread of the new wave of infections, while the World Health Organization asked Beijing to publish specific data regularly.
The United States, Britain, France, Spain and Italy announced that they would require COVID tests for all arrivals from mainland China.
Japan, South Korea, India and Israel imposed similar measures on arrivals from China, following Beijing's cancellation of foreign travel restrictions.
And among the latest procedures, the British Ministry of Health said yesterday evening, Friday - in a statement - that travelers coming from China must provide proof of a negative result of a "Covid-19" test that takes place within two days before leaving China, provided that this procedure takes effect starting from the fifth of the month. January.
Meanwhile, Spanish Minister of Health Carolina Darías said, in a press conference, that arrivals from China will be asked to "prove that their tests are negative or a certificate of complete vaccination," without mentioning a date for the start of this procedure.
But European countries are not unanimous in these measures, as Germany, for its part, demands to monitor the spread of “Covid-19” mutants in European airports, without going so far as to impose tests on travelers.
In Brussels, an informal meeting convened by the European Commission to work out a "coordinated approach" for member states did not lead to a decision.
For its part, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control expressed its belief that imposing Covid tests on travelers coming from China is "unjustified."
The center said that it does not believe that the high number of infections in China will affect the epidemiological situation in the bloc, "given the higher population immunity within the countries of the European Union and the European Economic Area."
These developments come after China canceled on December 7 its strict policy known as "Zero Covid", 3 years after the first cases of Covid virus appeared in the city of Wuhan in the center of the country.
Data required
Yesterday, a delegation from the World Health Organization met with Chinese officials to discuss the rise in the number of "Covid-19" infections, and the delegation urged the authorities to publish the data in real time so that other countries can respond effectively.
"A high-level meeting was held on December 30 between WHO and China on the current increase in COVID-19 cases, with the aim of obtaining more information on the situation and providing expertise and support," the organization said in a statement.
The statement indicated that the organization "requested again the regular publication of specific data on the epidemiological situation, in real time, including more data on the genetic sequence and the impact of the disease ... and cases requiring hospitalization and intensive care units, as well as about deaths."
Before the meeting, the health authorities in China confirmed - the day before yesterday, Thursday - that they had been publishing the data "in the interest of openness and transparency," according to statements reported by the new Chinese news agency, "Xinhua".
Hospitals were packed across China in the wake of the cancellation of the "zero Covid" policy that helped largely contain the virus but at the same time hurt the economy and sparked widespread protests.