"Some countries have put in place entry restrictions aimed only at Chinese travelers. This is without scientific basis and some practices are unacceptable," said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning.

China may "take countermeasures, according to the principle of reciprocity", she warned.

These statements come almost a month after China's surprise lifting of its health restrictions on December 7, a decision which has since led to an influx of patients in hospitals and Covid victims in crematoria.

From Sunday, Beijing will no longer impose quarantine on people arriving from abroad but continues to request a negative PCR test from travelers and has not issued tourist visas for almost three years.

More than a dozen countries have imposed Covid tests on passengers arriving from China in recent days, worrying about the lack of transparency on infection figures and fearing the appearance of new variants.

At Tongren Hospital in Shanghai, China, January 3, 2023 © Hector RETAMAL / AFP

"I think we are in our role by protecting the French and asking for tests", reacted Tuesday the French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, questioned on France Info.

“We will continue to do so”.

100 ambulances per day

China is currently facing its worst outbreak ever.

In Shanghai in particular, two thirds of the inhabitants could have had the Covid in recent weeks, estimated Tuesday a senior official of one of the main hospitals in the city.

“Currently, the epidemic in Shanghai is very widespread and it may have affected 70% of the population, which is 20 to 30 times more” than during the previous outbreak in the spring of 2022, said Chen Erzhen, vice president of the Ruijin Hospital, to a blog affiliated with People's Daily.

Economic capital of China, the city of 25 million inhabitants had been placed under strict confinement for two months from April, when 600,000 inhabitants were infected.

Many of them had been taken to quarantine centres.

At Tongren Hospital in Shanghai, China, January 3, 2023 © Hector RETAMAL / AFP

Now the Omicron variant is spreading there very quickly.

In other major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Tianjin (North), Chongqing (South-West) and Canton (South), health authorities believe that the peak has already passed.

Dr. Chen, also a member of Shanghai's Covid expert council, said his hospital receives 1,600 emergency admissions per day - double compared to the period before the restrictions were lifted - 80% of them patients. of the Covid.

"More than 100 ambulances arrive at the hospital every day," he said, and half of the patients admitted urgently are over the age of 65, therefore more vulnerable.

Chinese New Year

At Tongren Hospital in Shanghai, AFP journalists saw patients receiving emergency care outside the building on Tuesday, overwhelmed by the influx of patients.

The hallways were filled with dozens of elderly patients, lying on beds and having IVs.

Some wore oxygen masks.

This wave of Covid in major cities is expected to soon hit rural areas of China, where health services are less provided, as millions return to their home provinces to celebrate the Lunar New Year from January 21. .

In an interview with state broadcaster CCTV on Monday, senior National Health Commission (NHC) official Jiao Yahui acknowledged that the expected outbreak in the countryside posed a "tremendous challenge".

At Tongren Hospital in Shanghai, China, January 3, 2023 © Hector RETAMAL / AFP

"What worries us the most is that for the past three years, no one has returned to their province for the Lunar New Year, but this year it is finally possible," she said.

“As a result, there could be a rebound in trips by city dwellers to the countryside to visit relatives, which makes us more concerned about the outbreak in rural areas,” the official added.

She also admitted that hospital emergency departments were under pressure and promised that the authorities would coordinate resources to allow patients in the most remote areas to be treated.

© 2023 AFP