The measures taken by the United States, Japan and other countries a they require proof of coronaviruses to passengers from China reflect international concern about the possibility that new variants emerge in the explosive outbreak that is taking place in the country, and that the Chinese government do not inform the rest of the world fast enough.
Until now, there were no reports of new variants. But given the country’s track record, the concern is that China may not share data on any signs of evolution of the strains that could trigger new outbreaks in other places.
The new outbreak escalated as China lifted its zero-covid policy, ending entire city quarantines, mass lockdowns and mandatory tests faced with social fatigue after three years of restrictions.
Economic devastation and social fatigue forced change, but China made the decision without a plan B.
The Chinese population, without sufficient vaccination, especially the most vulnerable, became massively infected in a few days, saturating hospitals. Soon, long lines formed at the crematoria.
But How many cases are there per day of covid? It is not known. China halted the tests. And it no longer considers coronavirus death to people who die with underlying diseases. How many cases there are today is a mystery. The only concrete data that give an idea of the enormous number of infections it’s the chaotic scenes in crowded hospitals.
reopening of borders
The second measure that China has taken, and which has put the world on alert, has been the opening of its borders and the resumption of their flights.
Beijing also announced that travelers from abroad they will not be held in quarantine since January 8, in another setback of the strict regime that had practically isolated the country from the world since the beginning of the pandemic.
Countries like the US and Japan have rushed to require negative PCR tests from Chinese passengers to enter their territories.
United States of America said that the increase in cases of the coronavirus in China, as well as the lack of information, including the genomic sequencing of viral strains in the country, had motivated the decision to request a negative test for passengers from the Asian nation.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida raised similar concerns about the lack of information when he announced a requirement for a coronavirus test for passengers arriving from China a few days ago.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently said that the organization I needed more information on the severity of the epidemic in China, especially hospital admissions and intensive care units, “in order to carry out a comprehensive risk assessment of the situation on the ground”.
A fertile ground for new variants
From past experiences in India, South Africa and the United Kingdom, it is known that when there is a massive contagion of the population, a new variant of the virus that is more difficult to fight, more resistant to vaccines or more contagious quickly emerges.
China is today a fertile ground for that to happen with the difference that Beijing is likely no warning or notice.
International health experts warned on Thursday that the increase in coronavirus infections seen in China in recent weeks after it abandoned its “zero Covid” policy could create a “fertile ground” for new variants of the virus.
Fear of scientists
This is the increase in infections recorded in the Asian giant raised alarms in the global scientific community, where the fear is growing that it is fertile ground for new variants that are potentially more contagious or resistant to vaccines.
Despite the lack of national statistics, authorities in various cities estimate it Hundreds of thousands of people have been infected in recent weeks. in the country.
The director of the Institute for Global Health of the University of Geneva, Antoine Flahault, said that each new infection increases the chance that the virus will mutate.
“The fact that 1.4 billion people are suddenly exposed to SARS-CoV-2 it obviously creates the conditions for emerging variants,” Flahault said of the virus that causes Covid-19, in statements to AFP news agency.
Along the same lines, Bruno Lina, a professor of virology at the University of Lyon in France, told the newspaper La Croix that China will become a “potential breeding ground for the virus”.
Soumya Swaminathan, who until last month was the chief scientist of the World Health Organization (WHO), stressed that a large part of the Chinese population is vulnerable to the infection because many elderly people have not been vaccinated.
“We have to keep an eye out any changes in interest,” he told the Indian Express newspaper website.
China, however, is confident in its scientific ability to address that risk.
Xu Wenbo, director of viral control at the Chinese Center for Disease Control, announced last week that the country’s hospitals will collect samples from patients and upload the sequencing information to a new national database.
This would allow authorities to monitor possible new strains in real time, he said.
The expert specified it more than 130 derivatives of the Omicron variant have been detected in the last three months in China, including the XXB and BQ.1 variants and their subvariants, which are spreading in the United States and parts of Europe.
The main Omicron derivatives detected in China remain BA.5.2 and BF.7, he added.
On this point, Flahault said that none of these known variants “appear to show particular risks of more severe symptoms, although that may be the case for new variants in the future.”
Clarín writing with information from AP and EFE
ap
Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.