Umamah Bakharia | ub@radioislam.co.za

2 min read
30 December 2022 | 10:00 am CAT

While China has moved to reopen its borders and from 8 January, scrap mandatory quarantine for overseas arrivals, several countries like the United States, Japan, South Korea, Spain and India have imposed travel restrictions on mainland China.

Photo credit: India Today

China faces a surge in COVID-19 infections just after the country rolled back its stringent “zero-Covid” policy.

The countries say they are worried that new variants could emerge from China’s continuing outbreak and that Beijing may not inform the rest of the world quickly enough. Even though there have been no reports of new variants yet, there is widespread concern over the lack of information and data from China.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern over the rising reports of severe Covid-19 cases across China.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a series of tweets on Thursday, appealed to China to be more forthcoming with detailed data on the pandemic situation.

As I said at our most recent press conference – in order to make a comprehensive risk assessment of the #COVID19 situation on the ground in #China, @WHO needs more detailed information.https://t.co/5s9LPbLiCj

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) December 29, 2022

Meanwhile, the United Kingdon (UK), Australia and the Philippines say they are monitoring the situation and will impose restrictions on China if deemed neccesary.