Today, Wednesday, China rejected Washington and the West's accusations of losing control over the outbreak of the Corona virus, and considered that "mere speculation."
While officials of the World Health Organization recommended yesterday that the wearing of a muzzle should be imposed on long-haul flight passengers, in light of the rapid spread of the latest variant of the virus.
"His country's new measures to combat the Corona virus have won wide support and recognition among members of the international community," said Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui - in an interview with the Russian Tass Agency.
He added that there are certain forces "not only in the United States but in the Western world in general, who overlook the Chinese miracle in fighting the epidemic," speculating that China is "losing control of the epidemic," seeking to "distort our own COVID-19 prevention and control measures." ".
"In fact, they have always had a biased attitude towards China: first, they claimed that China's anti-COVID-19 measures are too strict, and now they are criticizing China for easing preventive measures... This is really funny."
Wear a mask
On the other hand, officials at the World Health Organization said on Tuesday that countries should consider recommending that passengers wear masks during long-haul flights, in light of the rapid spread of the latest variant of the Corona virus.
And WHO officials stated in a press statement that a small - but increasing - number of infections with the "XBB 1.5" (XBB 1.5) variant had been discovered in Europe.
The WHO's chief emergency officer in Europe, Catherine Smallwood, said that passengers should be advised to wear masks in high-risk places such as long-haul flights, adding that "this should be a recommendation for passengers coming from anywhere where Covid-19 disease is widespread."
Officials said the "XBB 1.5" variant, the fastest transmitting infection of the Omicron strain, accounted for 27.6% of infections in the United States last week.
It is not yet clear whether the new variant will cause a new global wave of infections, and experts say current vaccines still provide protection against severe symptoms, hospitalizations and death.
On Tuesday, the European Union's Aviation Safety Agency and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control issued recommendations for flights between China and the European Union, including "non-drug measures to limit the spread of the virus, such as wearing a mask and testing passengers, as well as monitoring wastewater as an early warning tool for detection." about new mutations.