China, which is in the grip of Corona, is rapidly dismantling its own travel restrictions. According to THL, China’s incomplete information makes it difficult to make a risk assessment of new conversions.
13:29•Updated 14:50
The United States is considering new corona restrictions for travelers arriving from China.
– There is growing concern in the international community about the spike in corona infections in China and the lack of reliable information, the US health authorities’ statement says.
Despite the rapid spread of the disease, China is now rapidly dismantling its strict corona restrictions.
China will remove the quarantine requirement for travelers entering the country starting January 8, it was announced on Monday. Even a corona test is no longer required of those arriving in the country, the Chinese customs authorities added today on Wednesday.
At the same time, it will also become much easier for Chinese people to go abroad.
Immediately after China’s announcement, Japan and Malaysia decided to demand corona tests from Chinese coming to the country. The Philippines also said on Wednesday that it is considering mandatory testing for those arriving from China.
In India, negative test results will probably be required next week from people arriving from China, says a government source For the Times of India (you will switch to another service).
In Finland, the Institute of Health and Welfare is on different lines. THL is not recommending any kind of restrictions for travelers from China to Finland, says a leading expert on infectious diseases Jari Jalava To .
– We know that it has never been possible to prevent the spread of virus variants with such measures. It’s pointless, says Jalava.
He reminds that during the pandemic it has been seen that entry restrictions do not prevent the spread of the virus in practice. According to Jalava, the only effective way would be for the infected not to go on the trip in the first place.
According to Jalava, the number of global infections will hardly be affected by those traveling from China, because there are currently many infections in Asia, Europe and America anyway.
New virus variants are causing concern
A bigger concern is the emergence and spread of possible new variants of the corona virus, when many people in China are infected for the first time and many have low vaccination coverage.
– A large number of infections increases the risk that new mutations will occur, but they can occur anywhere else, Jalava says.
According to the United States, it is very difficult for health authorities to control the spread of the virus and identify possible new variants because there is no data available from China. China no longer publishes information on the number of corona infections, even though they have increased enormously in various parts of the country in recent weeks.
In Finland, THL constantly monitors virus variants that are spreading here. According to Jalava, the incomplete information provided by China about possible new mutations and the disease picture caused by them make it difficult to make a risk assessment.
The EU currently has no corona-related travel restrictions or requirements for travelers from outside the EU. If the disease situation worsens, there are possible to set again (you switch to another service).
The number of travel searches exploded in China
The severe restrictions of the corona pandemic have eaten away at China’s economic growth. Stock exchange rates in Asia and Europe started to rise on Tuesday after the announcement about the easing of travel restrictions was given.
Just minutes after China’s announcement, search volumes on Chinese travel websites jumped up to tenfold. The Chinese applied for trips especially to Thailand, Japan and South Korea.
The Chinese autonomous regions of Hong Kong and Macau are also high on the travel wishes of mainland Chinese residents. Hong Kong is working on opening its border with mainland China and announced today, Wednesday, that it will waive the corona passport and corona testing of all foreign travelers.
In 2019, 155 million tourists left China for the world. After the pandemic started in 2020, the number dropped to 20 million, says the British Broadcasting Corporation BBC (switch to another service).
Sources: Reuters, AFP
Story updated at 14:50. Added information about India’s potential future test requirements.