Tweet
10 January 2023
The ongoing COVID-19 surge in China is not expected to “significantly impact” the European region, UN health experts said on Tuesday.
Dr. Hans Kluge, head of the World Health Organization for Europe, explained that this is because the two variants circulating in China are already present in European countries, according to data provided by the Chinese authorities.
“We share the current view of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) that the ongoing surge in China is not anticipated to significantly impact the COVID-19 epidemiological situation in the WHO European Region at this time.”
Restrictions 'not unreasonable'
The WHO senior official acknowledged that China had shared virus sequencing information, but he appealed for more “detailed and regular information”, especially concerning local epidemiology and variants “to better assess the evolving situation”.
Dr Kluge also said that travel restrictions by European countries on visitors from China were “not unreasonable…while we are waiting for more detailed information that is shared through publicly available databases”.
But he said it was important for the precautionary travel measures being introduced by European countries “to be rooted in science, to be proportionate and non-discriminatory”.
Visas halted
The message comes as Chinese embassies suspended issuing new visas for South Koreans and Japanese visitors on Tuesday. The announcement covered tourist, business and some other visa categories.
The move appears to be in response to COVID-19 testing requirements recently imposed by those countries on travellers from China.
A notice posted in Seoul reportedly said the ban would continue until South Korea lifts its “discriminatory entry measures” against China.
At least ten countries in Europe, North America and Asia have announced new virus testing requirements for travellers from China, with officials expressing concern about a lack of adequate information about rapidly spreading virus outbreaks in China.
In two further messages to the WHO European Region, Dr Kluge warned against countries greatly reducing their surveillance capacity for COVID-19. ...
Dr Kluge stressed that countries must build upon the lessons learned over the last three years and be able to anticipate, detect and respond in time to SARS-CoV-2, and any emerging health threat.
XBB.1.5 spreading
He commended European countries, including Denmark, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, that have maintained strong genomic surveillance and pointed out that their recent data has started to indicate the growing presence of the new XBB.1.5 recombinant virus, derived from the Omicron variant, that has already been spreading rapidly across the United States. ...
The ongoing COVID-19 surge in China is not expected to “significantly impact” the European region, UN health experts said on Tuesday.
Dr. Hans Kluge, head of the World Health Organization for Europe, explained that this is because the two variants circulating in China are already present in European countries, according to data provided by the Chinese authorities.
“We share the current view of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) that the ongoing surge in China is not anticipated to significantly impact the COVID-19 epidemiological situation in the WHO European Region at this time.”
Restrictions 'not unreasonable'
The WHO senior official acknowledged that China had shared virus sequencing information, but he appealed for more “detailed and regular information”, especially concerning local epidemiology and variants “to better assess the evolving situation”.
Dr Kluge also said that travel restrictions by European countries on visitors from China were “not unreasonable…while we are waiting for more detailed information that is shared through publicly available databases”.
But he said it was important for the precautionary travel measures being introduced by European countries “to be rooted in science, to be proportionate and non-discriminatory”.
Visas halted
The message comes as Chinese embassies suspended issuing new visas for South Koreans and Japanese visitors on Tuesday. The announcement covered tourist, business and some other visa categories.
The move appears to be in response to COVID-19 testing requirements recently imposed by those countries on travellers from China.
A notice posted in Seoul reportedly said the ban would continue until South Korea lifts its “discriminatory entry measures” against China.
At least ten countries in Europe, North America and Asia have announced new virus testing requirements for travellers from China, with officials expressing concern about a lack of adequate information about rapidly spreading virus outbreaks in China.
In two further messages to the WHO European Region, Dr Kluge warned against countries greatly reducing their surveillance capacity for COVID-19. ...
Dr Kluge stressed that countries must build upon the lessons learned over the last three years and be able to anticipate, detect and respond in time to SARS-CoV-2, and any emerging health threat.
XBB.1.5 spreading
He commended European countries, including Denmark, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, that have maintained strong genomic surveillance and pointed out that their recent data has started to indicate the growing presence of the new XBB.1.5 recombinant virus, derived from the Omicron variant, that has already been spreading rapidly across the United States. ...