Covid test mandatory for Chinese when entering U.S.
2022.12.29 00:19
Covid test mandatory for Chinese when entering U.S.
Budrigannews.com – Following Beijing’s decision to lift strict zero-COVID policies, U.S. health officials announced on Wednesday that the country will impose mandatory COVID-19 tests on travelers from China. These countries will join India, Italy, Japan, and Taiwan in implementing new measures.
The officials informed the media that, starting on January 5, all air passengers over the age of two will need a negative test result no more than two days before departing from China, Hong Kong, or Macao.
According to federal officials, passengers who test positive more than ten days prior to a flight may substitute documentation of recovery for a negative test result.
They said that the new policy was made because they didn’t know enough about SARS-CoV-2 virus variants and were worried that the rise in COVID cases in China might lead to the creation of new strains of the virus.
Additionally, Seattle and Los Angeles have been added to the voluntary genomic sequencing program that is being expanded at airports in the United States. This brings the total number of airports collecting positive test information to seven.
China began dismantling the world’s most stringent COVID regime of lockdowns and extensive testing this month in a sudden policy shift, setting its battered economy on track for a complete reopening next year.
Following widespread protests against the restrictions, some international health experts believe that COVID is spreading unchecked and likely infecting millions of people each day.
Beijing has come under fire from around the world for not matching up the scale of its outbreak with its official COVID data and death toll.
“We only have limited information regarding the number of cases, hospitalizations, and especially deaths that are increasing.” Additionally, “it also makes it difficult to know what the true infection rate is,” a U.S. health official told the briefing. “There has been a decrease in testing across China.”
Given the enormous number of individuals in China who have not been presented to the infection, the presentation of Omicron variations and the rollback of China’s zero-Coronavirus strategies, U.S. authorities are worried there will be countless diseases prompting hospitalizations and passings in China, the authority said.
More China preparing for increase in incidence of COVID
The virus could infect as many as 1 million people per day, according to some experts in global health, and international modeling organizations have predicted that China could see at least 2 million deaths.
“the lack of transparent data” from China, a persistent Washington complaint about China’s handling of the pandemic, was cited earlier this week by U.S. officials as a reason for considering its own travel restrictions.
Throughout the pandemic, the approaches that the United States and China took to combating COVID were markedly distinct.
High disease rates in the US right off the bat in the pandemic gave Beijing space to contend its model of severe Coronavirus anticipation measures had saved lives.
China has struggled to vaccinate its elderly population and has not yet authorized mRNA vaccines from outside the country. According to data released by the Chinese government last week, although the country’s overall vaccination rate is greater than 90%, the percentage of adults who have received booster shots drops to 57.9% and to 42.3% for people aged 80 and older.
The nation has nine locally evolved Coronavirus antibodies endorsed for use, however none has been refreshed to focus on the exceptionally irresistible Omicron variation.
The briefing heard that the United States has provided China with mRNA vaccines and other assistance, but Chinese officials have publicly stated that they do not require assistance from the United States at this time. One official stated, “We continue to stand by our offer.”
The requirement that individuals arriving in the country by air test negative for COVID-19 was lifted in June, after 17 months. To enter the United States, most non-U.S. citizens still need to be immunized against COVID.
