China is dropping quarantine requirements but is threatening to "reciprocate" if other countries toughen their borders against a surge of virus cases. Photo / AP
China is dropping quarantine requirements but is threatening to "reciprocate" if other countries toughen their borders against a surge of virus cases. Photo / AP
China threatened to restrict its own borders again as it said it may retaliate for fresh Covid travel bans around the world.
Around a dozen countries - including the UK, US, Australia, South Korea and Japan - have imposed Covid testing restrictions on passengers from China after Beijing announced it would end its extended border closure from January 8.
The nation is experiencing its worst Covid outbreak of the three-year-long pandemic.
Mao Ning, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said “some countries have taken entry restrictions targeting only Chinese travellers”.
“This lacks scientific basis and some practices are unacceptable,” she added.
She warned China could “take countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity” but did not specify what they could be.
Countries imposing the new requirements for a negative test on arrivals from China have cited Beijing’s lack of transparency around infection data and the risk of new variants emerging as the virus runs rampant throughout the nation of 1.4 billion.
Doctors in Shanghai admitted that about 70 per cent of the city’s 26 million people had contracted the virus in recent weeks.
At Tongren Hospital in downtown Shanghai, AFP reported that patients were receiving emergency medical attention outside the entrance of the overcrowded emergency ward on Tuesday.
Corridors were reported to be overflowing with dozens of elderly patients lying on beds crammed together, hooked up to IV drips.
The authorities have insisted the situation is under control and has already peaked in major cities, including the capital, Beijing.
They say adequate prevention measures are in place but have been criticised for dramatically narrowing the criteria for classifying Covid deaths.
China has recorded only 22 deaths from the virus since December, however, doctors on the frontline have reported a bleaker picture.
Chen Erzhen, a senior doctor at the Ruijin hospital in Shanghai and a member of the megacity’s Covid expert panel, estimated that about 70 per cent of Shanghai’s 25 million population have been infected with the virus.
“More than 100 ambulances arrive at the hospital every day,” he was quoted as saying, adding that around half of emergency admissions were vulnerable people aged over 65.
China's health system is becoming overwhelmed by cases as many countries believe its government is lacking transparency in reporting numbers. Photo / AP
Chinese officials are now bracing for a huge wave to hit China’s under-resourced rural interior, as millions of people prepare to travel back to their hometowns for the week-long Lunar New Year public holiday, beginning January 21.
Jiao Yahui, a National Health Commission official, admitted dealing with the expected peak in rural areas would be an “enormous challenge”.
Beijing surprised its own people and the world when it suddenly ended its strict zero Covid policy last month with little preparation.
This included abruptly scrapping quarantine, lockdowns and isolation measures after protests against the policy swept the country.
The country has since seen a steep rise in infections, with multiple videos emerging on social media of overwhelmed hospital waiting rooms and families queuing for hours to secure a slot for dead relatives at crematoria.
