As of today, travelers from China are required to undergo a COVID-19 test upon arrival in Taiwan. This is a temporary measure during the rapid spread of COVID-19 in China, where government data on the surge in cases lacks transparency.
The policy comes abruptly when China downgrades its COVID-19 controls on Monday, fully reopens its borders on Jan. 8, ends self-isolation for confirmed cases, and removes quarantine requirements for inbound travelers. It was announced Wednesday, shortly after the announcement of China’s COVID-19 policy U-turn reminded the world that the pandemic is not over.
Last year, many countries reopened their borders and lifted most or all restrictions after waves of infections and vaccination boosted levels of immunity. The WHO said he was “in sight of the end” in September, giving an optimistic outlook for the year. But China’s hasty policy shift has put the world on alert and prompted some countries to act immediately.
After Japan introduced COVID-19 testing for all arrivals from China, a growing list of countries, including Taiwan, France, Italy, Malaysia, South Korea, the UK and the US, are following similar policies. But some health experts and politicians question whether the limited restrictions will be effective in curbing infections and preventing new waves of local cases.
The governments of these countries stress that the testing requirements are aimed at identifying and tracking potential new variants among the millions of new daily infections reported in China. According to information leaked from China’s National Health Commission on Dec. 21, its health officials estimated that nearly 37 million people were infected every day, with about 200 million infected in the first 20 days of last month. 48 million people are likely to have been infected with the virus. Meanwhile, the next day, the WHO said it had not received data on COVID-19 hospitalizations from China as it had withdrawn its “zero COVID-19” policy, and China soon after said it would not release daily COVID-19 data. said.
China has also changed how it counts deaths from COVID-19. While excluding people with underlying medical conditions that currently account for the majority of COVID-related deaths in other countries, health departments on Wednesday reported 5,231 new cases nationwide since the pandemic began. It reported 3 deaths and 5,247 deaths from disease.
In Italy, health officials on Wednesday said nearly half of passengers on two flights from China – 38% on the first flight and 52% on the second – had tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival. I was. Meanwhile, the British Telegraph on Friday reported that Beijing has uploaded only about 940 SARS-CoV-2 sequences to GISAID, the largest global database of viral research, since 29 November, while the UK has uploaded 7,325 sequences. shared, and Denmark reported having shared 8,723 sequences.
“Since the outbreak of COVID-19, China has shared relevant information and data with the international community in an open and transparent manner,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Friday. Despite its claims, concerns remain that China is hiding data from the rest of the world.
As Taiwan and many other countries adapt to coexisting with the virus, they face irresponsible international players who are unwilling to share data and sabotage global efforts to identify new subspecies. If so, it is only natural that countries take steps to strengthen surveillance and health security to protect their communities.
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