Beijing on Tuesday (January 3rd) condemned the imposition of Covid tests by a dozen countries on travelers from China, as the latter faces an unprecedented wave of cases.

"Some countries have put in place entry restrictions aimed only at travelers from China. 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.

>> To read: Covid-19: France imposes a negative test for travelers leaving China

From Sunday, Beijing will no longer impose a quarantine on people arriving from abroad but continues to request a negative PCR test from travelers.

The country has not issued tourist visas for nearly three years.

More than a dozen countries have been imposing Covid tests on passengers arriving from China for the past few days, worrying about the lack of transparency on the scale of the number of infections and fearing the appearance of new variants.

For Elisabeth Borne, France is in its role by "asking for tests"

“I think we are in our role by protecting the French and asking for tests”, reacted French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne on Tuesday, questioned on franceinfo.

“We will continue to do so”.

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.

🗣 Beijing considers mandatory tests on travelers from China “unacceptable” ➡️ “We are in our role by protecting the French”, says Elisabeth Borne. “Our objective is to be able to monitor the evolution of the epidemic .”

pic.twitter.com/37CfnczKvh

— franceinfo (@franceinfo) January 3, 2023

“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.

Many had been taken to quarantine centres.

Now the Omicron variant is spreading there very quickly.

In other major Chinese cities like Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing and Guangzhou, health authorities believe the peak has already passed.

A wave of Covid will soon be present in rural areas

Dr Chen, also a member of Shanghai's Covid expert council, said his hospital is receiving 1,600 emergency admissions a day - double the number before the restrictions were lifted - with 80% sick. 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.

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.

>> To see: In Shanghai, in a hospital overwhelmed by the outbreak of Covid-19 cases

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

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

"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."

With AFP

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