The US considers restricting the entry of travelers from China due to covid

Washington – The United States is considering the possibility of imposing restrictions on travelers from China, US authorities reported on Tuesday, after Beijing drastically relaxed its tough anti-Covid measures this month.

Infections have multiplied in China as the main pillars of its strict health policy have been dismantled, prompting US officials to express concerns about the possible emergence of new variants.

“The international community is increasingly concerned about the continuing outbreaks of COVID-19 in China and the lack of transparent data, including viral genomic sequence data, reported” by China, the officials said.

Authorities in Beijing have admitted that it is “impossible” to trace the origin of the current outbreak and have suppressed the controversial count of infections, in addition to narrowing the criteria for calculating pandemic-related deaths.

But it is the lack of genomic data that has sparked concerns in other countries, making it “increasingly difficult for public health authorities to ensure that they can identify potential new variants and take prompt action to reduce their spread,” the US authorities said.

The United States “follows the scientific data and the advice of public health experts, consults with its partners and considers taking similar measures” to that of countries such as Japan and Malaysia, which have announced public health actions to deal with the spread of covid from China.

Beijing’s relaxation of measures closes the curtain on the “zero covid” regime, with mass testing, lockdowns and long quarantines that have affected supply chains and shaken the commercial commitment of the world’s second largest economy.

China’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that countries should maintain “scientific and appropriate” controls on diseases that “should not affect normal personnel exchanges.”