China Covid News latest: Beijing threatens to retaliate against travel rules as 70% of Shanghai infected

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Ben Wallace says Covid screening for travelers from China ‘under review’

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Beijing has threatened to impose countermeasures on countries like the UK after the introduction of new Covid restrictions on passengers arriving from China.

“We believe that the entry restrictions adopted by some countries targeting China lack scientific basis, and some excessive practices are even more unacceptable,” said foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning on Tuesday.

“We strongly oppose attempts to manipulate COVID measures for political purposes and will take countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity.”

People arriving in Britain from China need to present a negative Covid test before entry. However, earlier today, a cabinet minister announced that travelers who test positive for coronavirus after arriving from China will not have to be quarantined.

The UK’s Department of Health and Social Care said China was hit by the new rules due to a “lack of comprehensive health information”, as Chinese state media continues to downplay the severity of the current outbreak.

Chen Erzin, deputy head of Shanghai’s Ruijin Hospital and a member of the Covid City Expert Advisory Committee, was quoted as saying that 70 percent of the megacity may have been infected with the virus.

1672772103 latest update shows impact of Covid outbreak in China on UK ‘likely to be minimal’, says expert

A mathematical statistician has suggested that any contribution of the coronavirus outbreak in China to what we’re seeing in the UK is “likely to be negligible”.

On the “complex” question of monitoring testing, “it is worth noting that the capacity for such monitoring is always limited”, said Professor Thomas House of the University of Manchester.

But he warned that testing travelers needed to be balanced with “potentially enhanced surveillance in our health and social care sectors”.

Professor Roland Kao, an expert in veterinary epidemiology and data science from the University of Edinburgh, said surveillance testing could fill an “important gap”, adding: “Testing on arrival is not to prevent spread but to collect data – we know very little about what is happening in China.

“If we, and other countries in particular, can collect viral sequences, that will give us knowledge of variants that may appear in China.”

Andy Gregory Jan 3, 2023 18:55

Barclay says fixing delays in patients leaving hospital is the best way to ease the NHS crisis

The health minister said the devastating delays in ambulance deliveries that caused problems in hospitals across the country were largely caused by “those who are in the fitness to leave hospital but are too late to do so”.

Asked why NHS staff weren’t given a pay rise in real terms given the record number of vacancies, Steve Barclay told broadcasters: “Well, because we’re focusing funding on backlogs, for example, getting more diagnostic centers in place, getting hubs The surgeries that we’re launching, reducing the backlog from the pandemic, that’s been the main priority.

“This is where we’ve ramped up additional funding, but we’re also aware of the significant pressure we’re seeing in terms of delays in ambulance deliveries. It’s largely run by those who are fit to leave hospital but are too late to do so and we need to free up bed capacity. These, and this is often about providing the appropriate social care to do so.

“That’s why we’ve got an extra £7.5 billion in social care over the next two years, and an extra £6.6 billion in the NHS to tackle this issue of patients who are eligible to be discharged, who are often late doing so. And that in turn is the best way to take the pressure off A&E and ensuring ambulance delivery times are reduced.”

Andy Gregory Jan 3 2023 18:27

Barclay: Government aims to ‘get people out of hospital who don’t need to be there’

Speaking to broadcasters about the pressures facing A&E units, Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the government was focused on “getting people out of hospital who don’t need to be there” in order to “accelerate delays in ambulance delivery”.

“It was always part of the recognition that the stresses of Covid would have an impact on people seeking services during the pandemic, for example, people were more reluctant to go see their GPs. This in particular had an impact on disease risk,” Barclay said. heart and blood vessels”.

“There are other factors as well in terms of the backlog on operations. Yes, it’s important that we get ambulances to people quickly as well, but there are a range of factors that have come into play, particularly in cardiovascular deaths, which is the main issue when we look at the challenge in terms of fatalities. excess.

“So, that’s something that the chief medical officer and medical director of the NHS has been watching very closely.

“This is why we are so focused on getting people out of the hospital who don’t need to be there because that in turn will speed up delays in ambulance delivery and get ambulances back to responding to calls.”

Andy Gregory Jan 3, 2023 17:58

1672766900EU says it has approved a “coordinated approach” to Chinese travel

The EU’s Committee on Health Security has announced that member states have agreed on a “coordinated approach” to the changing situation of Covid-19 – including the implications of increased travel from China.

Stella Kyriakides, the EU’s health chief, said the committee had worked on targeted measures, including pre-departure testing for travelers from China, increased monitoring of sewage and increased internal surveillance.

But over the past week, EU countries have responded unilaterally to the crisis in China, reneging on an earlier commitment to work in unity.

Andy Gregory Jan 3 2023 17:28

1672765263 China appears to be rejecting the European Union’s vaccine donation offer

China appears to be rejecting a donation offer of a Covid-19 adaptive vaccine from the European Union, the European Commission announced on Tuesday.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the situation was “under control” and medical materials were “sufficiently available” — but added that China was open to “strengthening solidarity and cooperation with the international community” to better meet the challenges of the epidemic.

However, he said that China can “fulfill the demand of anyone who wants to be vaccinated”. It is not clear how many vaccines the European Union is providing.

China has so far insisted that only Chinese-made vaccines – which are of the inactivated virus type and do not rely on Western mRNA technology – be used for its population.

Andy Gregory Jan 3 2023 17:01

1672764224 The virologist calls for a “more realistic picture” of China ahead of the WHO meeting

Top scientists advising the World Health Organization said they want a “more realistic picture” of the coronavirus situation from China’s top experts at a key meeting today.

The World Health Organization invited Chinese scientists to a closed virtual meeting with its Technical Advisory Group on Viral Evolution, to present data on the variants circulating in the country.

“We want to see a more realistic picture of what’s really going on,” Professor Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist who sits on a WHO panel, told Reuters, claiming that some of the data from Beijing, such as that on hospital numbers, is “not very credible”.

“It is in China’s own interest to come forward with more reliable information.”

Professor Koopmans said the committee had seen only a “tiny fraction” of the cases in China that had been sequenced so far – around 700 – and called for a global surveillance network to track the virus, saying: “At the moment what we’re getting is very patchy, but it has been This is the reality in other parts of the world as well.”

Andy Gregory Jan 3, 2023 16:43

Downing Street says mask directive ‘not mandatory’ and ‘very long-term’

In addition to new government restrictions on travel for those leaving China, health authorities in the UK have urged people to stay at home where possible and to wear a face covering outside if they are feeling unwell.

While Transport Secretary Mark Harper agreed that “it’s very reasonable to wear a mask if you’re sick”, Downing Street stressed that HSA guidance was “not mandatory”.

“I think this is very old advice,” said Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson. “It remains healthy advice for the public – it is not mandatory. People need their rule. Certainly people will continue to use their good sense, after they have spent a great deal of time dealing with these kinds of infectious diseases.”

Asked if it was really “long-standing” advice for people to wear face coverings if they had a cold, Official Number 10 replied: “That’s not what the advice says.

“What you will see is, as has often been the case, if people are ill they are advised to stay at home. Obviously people can choose to wear a mask if they wish. It is not compulsory. This is advice from the UKHSA rather than government ministers telling people what to do.” He did, as we saw at the height of the pandemic, before the advent of vaccines.”

Andy Gregory Jan 3, 2023 16:26

China says Covid entry restrictions by countries lack scientific basis and are unreasonable

China on Tuesday hit back at governments who have imposed travel restrictions on the country by saying Covid-19 measures must be “science-based” and warning of possible “countermeasures”.

More than a dozen countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, have made it mandatory for travelers from China to show a negative Covid test before arrival. Morocco imposed a complete ban on people coming from China due to the huge increase in new cases of coronavirus in the country.

Some federal governments have cited Beijing’s lack of transparency about infection data and the risk of new variants as a reason behind the new regulations.

Alisha Rehman Sarkar says:

Emily Atkinson Jan 3, 2023, 16:00

1672761330 China imposed new entry rules due to ‘lack of comprehensive health information,’ says No. 10

Downing Street rejected any suggestion that the new rules for Chinese travelers could signal a broader change for visitors traveling to the UK from countries with high rates of Covid virus.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: “Part of the reason for this is the lack of comprehensive health information being shared.

“We are working with the Chinese government to encourage them – we are not alone in this – to get more information from them.”

Emily Atkinson Jan 3 2023 15:55

1672761030 China criticizes “unacceptable” Covid restrictions imposed on its travelers

Beijing has denounced the “unacceptable” introduction of COVID-19 testing on passengers arriving from China to several countries.

Chinese officials said the entry restrictions “lacked scientific basis” and threatened retaliatory action.

“We resolutely oppose attempts to manipulate COVID measures for political purposes and will take countermeasures on the basis of the principle of reciprocity,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.

Details with my colleague Liam James:

Emily Atkinson Jan 3 2023 15:50

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