Chinese fleeing COVID-19 in China overwhelming SG's hospital infrastructure and resources

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South Korea to require Covid-19 tests for travellers from China​

It would also restrict issuing short-term visas for Chinese travellers until the end of January. PHOTO: AFP

Dec 30, 2022

SEOUL – South Korea said on Friday it will impose mandatory Covid-19 tests on travellers from China, joining the United States, Japan and other countries in taking new border measures after Beijing’s decision to lift its stringent zero-Covid policies.
South Korea would also restrict issuing short-term visas for Chinese nationals until the end of January and temporarily halt increasing flights from China while using Incheon International Airport as the only gateway for any flights from the neighbouring country, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said.
Effective Jan 5, travellers from China would be required to submit a negative result from a PCR test no more than 48 hours or a rapid antigen test taken within 24 hours before departure, and undergo another PCR test upon arrival starting from Jan 2, officials said.
South Korean authorities said the new restrictions were needed after Beijing stopped publishing daily data on cases, raising concerns over a new wave of infections and mutations.
While most of the new rules are set to be in place until the end of February, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said they could be extended.
“We need to urgently prepare for any domestic ripple effects following China’s easing of quarantine rules,” Mr Han said. “We will prepare to take stronger measures in case the situation gets worse, if we see a rapid increase of infections from new arrivals or appearance of new variants.”
China earlier in December began dismantling the world’s strictest Covid-19 measures in an abrupt change of policy, prompting countries and territories to impose or consider imposing curbs on travellers from China amid a surge in cases there. REUTERS

 

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China’s Covid-19 wave sparks scramble for vital drugs across region​

Ibuprofen, paracetamol and Pfizer Inc’s Paxlovid are among the most sought-after medicines in China. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH

Dec 30, 2022

BEIJING – A tsunami of coronavirus infections in China is causing shortages of key drugs across the region as relatives and friends living overseas ship painkillers and antivirals from abroad, driving up prices and forcing some stores to cap purchases.
South Korea’s health ministry warned on Wednesday that it would punish the sale of “excessive amounts” of cold medicine to an individual patient, after local media reported that a Chinese customer had bought 6 million won (S$6,400) worth of drugs in Hanam city in Gyeonggi Province. Some pharmacies in Taiwan are running low on Panadol cold and flu tablets, while Bloomberg News visited 20 dispensaries in Hong Kong that were out of Panadol and Coltalin pills.
Beijing’s decision to abruptly remove most pandemic restrictions with little preparation is driving an unprecedented number of cases, leaving hospitals and funeral homes overwhelmed. Almost 37 million people were possibly infected on a single day last week, according to estimates from the government’s top health authority. That has led to a dearth of critical over-the-counter medicines locally, fueling the surge in cross-border shipments.
Ms Shen Tsai-Ying, a pharmacist in Taipei, told Bloomberg News that Panadol was out of stock, and staff were instructed to refuse sales of more than 80 pills of antipyretics to help prevent stockpiling.
“We’re worried that Taiwanese people who work in China or have Chinese spouses will hoard and send antipyretics back,” Mr Huang Chin Shun, Chairman of the Taiwan Pharmacists Association, said in an interview Thursday.
Ibuprofen, paracetamol and Pfizer Inc’s Paxlovid are among the most sought-after medicines in China, but the supply crunch is forcing residents to queue up for hours outside stores. Delivery apps say orders could take weeks to arrive. E-commerce platform Meituan said its medicine service provider, starting Thursday, would include an option for pharmacies to help them sell paracetamol and ibuprofen in smaller lots.
Just like the Taipei pharmacy, other outlets in the region such as Singapore supermarket FairPrice and Hong Kong pharmacy chains Watsons and Mannings are responding to the buying spree by imposing purchase limits on Panadol and Nurofen. Some pharmacies in Japan are following suit, according to 27-year-old Tokyo resident Yichun Geng. She said she could buy only two boxes of the ibuprofen tablet EVE at one outlet to send to family in China.


Tokyo-based Taisho Pharmaceutical Holdings Co, which makes over-the-counter cold remedy Pabron, said it’s seen an “unexpected, sudden increase” in demand after speculative Chinese social media posts saying the medicine eases Covid-19 symptoms. Taisho said in an email Thursday that none of the OTCs, including its own, is known to be effective against Covid-19, and advised customers to exercise caution.
Asahi Shimbun reported that the increase in demand for cold medicines is emptying out shelves of drugstores in Japan.
For those lucky enough to lay their hands on dwindling supplies, logistics is proving to be a hurdle.

Courier ShunXing Logistics in Singapore is placing caps on the number of Covid-related medical items people can mail due to a “manpower shortage and overcrowding,” it announced in a WeChat post last week. Some branches are allowing a maximum of 50 customers per day to send parcels containing Covid medicines.

People queue at the Shun Xing Express outlet in People’s Park Complex on Dec 23, 2022. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
The boom has also meant a windfall for some couriers and scalpers, with some charging as much as ten times the retail price for medicines.
Ms Wang, a Singapore-based Chinese energy broker who did not wish to disclose her full name owing to sensitivities in China, said one student on e-commerce app Xiaohongshu, or Little Red Book, had offered to deliver Panadol to Shandong province when he returned for the holidays, but for a fee of S$40 plus the drug’s cost of S$7-S$10 per box.

Another Singapore resident, who identified himself as Mr Xu, said his uncle in Shanghai had spent more than 1,000 yuan (S$193) on “bulk purchases of useless medicines” in a deal that included a box of the vital Nurofen tablets. “There’s high demand and low supply, so these shops think about making money,” he added.
In Hong Kong, staff at Mannings had put up signs under bare shelves reading “keep prices down”, next to notices informing customers that sales of cold, flu and pain relief products would be limited to two units per brand in a single transaction due to “a sudden surge in demand.” Watsons has capped Panadol purchases at six boxes.
A shop clerk at a dispensary in Mong Kok – a Hong Kong neighborhood – said he’d seen prices of Panadol Cold and Flu tablets, which usually retail at about HK$58 (S$10) to HK$71, shoot up to as high as HK$400 per pack. State-owned media Wen Wei Po reported Friday that one pharmacy had bumped up the price of Molnupiravir, a Covid antiviral, from HK$1,800 to HK$2,500 over two days.
The high prices and long wait times aren’t deterring those seeking to ride out the wave, which China’s National Health Commission predicts will peak during January.
“I am worried. There are elderly people at home, my grandfather and my grandmother,” said Ms Zhang, a Singapore resident who sent three boxes of Panadol to her family in Anhui. “It’s good to be prepared. They can still use them in the future.” BLOOMBERG

 

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Covid-19 travel curbs against Chinese visitors ‘discriminatory’, says state media​

Italy has ordered Covid-19 antigen swabs and virus sequencing for all travellers coming from China, where cases are surging. PHOTO: REUTERS

Dec 30, 2022

BEIJING – Chinese state-media said Covid-19 testing requirements imposed by several places around the world in response to a surging wave of infections were “discriminatory”, in the clearest pushback yet against restrictions that are slowing down its re-opening.
Having kept its borders all but shut for three years, imposing a strict regime of lockdowns and relentless testing, China abruptly reversed course toward living with the virus on Dec 7, and a wave of infections erupted across the country.
Some places have been taken aback by the scale of China’s outbreak and expressed scepticism over Beijing’s Covid-19 statistics, with the United States, South Korea, India, Italy, Japan and Taiwan imposing Covid-19 tests for travellers from China.
“The real intention is to sabotage China’s three years of Covid-19 control efforts and attack the country’s system,” state-run tabloid Global Times said in an article late on Thursday, calling the restrictions “unfounded” and “discriminatory”.
China will stop requiring inbound travellers to go into quarantine from Jan 8. But it will still demand a negative PCR test result within 48 hours before departure.
Italy on Thursday urged the rest of the European Union to follow its lead, but France, Germany and Portugal have said they saw no need for new restrictions, while Austria has stressed the economic benefits of Chinese tourists’ return to Europe.
Global spending by Chinese visitors was worth more than US$250 billion (S$336 billion) a year before the pandemic.

​

The US has raised concerns about potential mutations of the virus as it sweeps through the world’s most populous country, as well as over China’s data transparency.
The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention is considering sampling wastewater from international aircraft to track any emerging new variants, the agency told Reuters.
China, a country of 1.4 billion people, reported one new Covid-19 death for Thursday, same as the day before - numbers which do not match the experience of other countries after they re-opened.

China’s official death toll of 5,247 since the pandemic began compares with more than 1 million deaths in the US. Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, a city of 7.4 million, has reported more than 11,000 deaths.
Britain-based health data firm Airfinity said on Thursday around 9,000 people in China are probably dying each day from Covid-19. Cumulative deaths in China since Dec 1 have likely reached 100,000, with infections totalling 18.6 million, it said.
Airfinity expects China’s Covid-19 infections to reach their first peak on Jan 13, with 3.7 million cases a day.
China’s chief epidemiologist Wu Zunyou said on Thursday that a team at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention plans to assess fatalities differently.

A line of cars waits to enter the Dongjiao funeral parlor and crematory in Beijing, China, on Dec 20, 2022 PHOTO: NYTIMES

The team will measure the difference between the number of deaths in the current wave of infections and the number of deaths expected had the epidemic never happened. By calculating the “excess mortality”, China will be able to work out what could have been potentially underestimated, Dr Wu said.
China has said it only counts deaths of Covid-19 patients caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure as Covid-related.
The relatively low death count is also inconsistent with the surging demand reported by funeral parlours in several Chinese cities.
The lifting of restrictions, after widespread protests against them in November, has overwhelmed hospitals and funeral homes across the country, with scenes of people on intravenous drips by the roadside and lines of hearses outside crematoria fuelling public concern.
Health experts say China has been caught ill-prepared by the abrupt U-turn in policies long championed by President Xi Jinping. In December, tenders put out by hospitals for key medical equipment such as ventilators and patient monitors were two to three times higher than in previous months, according to a Reuters review, suggesting hospitals across the country were scrambling to plug shortages.
The world’s second-largest economy is expected to slow down further in the near term as factory workers and shoppers fall ill. Some economists predict a strong bounce back from a low base next year, but concerns linger that some of the damage made by three years of restrictions could be long-term.

Consumers may need time to recover their confidence and spending appetite after losing income during lockdowns, while the private sector may have used its expansion funds to cover losses incurred due to the restrictions.
Heavily indebted China will also face slowing demand in its main export markets, while its massive property sector is licking its wounds after a series of defaults.
China’s factory activity most likely cooled in December as rising infections began to affect production lines, a Reuters poll showed on Friday. REUTERS

 

[laksaboy]

I'm guessing Shun Xing Express is to the Tiongs what Tamilan Express Cargo is to the ah nehs.

 

[syed putra]

BKT?
Isn't it no good?

It taste like medicine.i dunno how anyone can eat it.

 

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Malaysia to screen arriving travellers for fever, test wastewater from China flights for Covid-19​

The additional precautionary measures were announced to deal with a potential upsurge of travellers from China. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Nadirah H. Rodzi
Malaysia Correspondent

Dec 30, 2022

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia is beefing up surveillance at its international entry points by screening all travellers for fever and testing wastewater samples from aircraft coming from China amid the soaring number of Covid-19 cases there.
The Health Ministry said the wastewater samples will be sent to the National Public Health Laboratory for polymerase chain reaction testing before being dispatched for genome sequencing if the results are positive for Covid-19.
“All travellers arriving from abroad, including China, at the international entry points will undergo fever screening. Those who have been detected with fever, symptoms, or through self-declaration, will be referred to a quarantine centre or the health authorities for re-examination. In the event of suspected Covid-19, a test will be carried out,” Health Minister Zaliha Mustafa said on Friday.
“To improve detection of any new variants, all cases of influenza-like illnesses and severe acute respiratory infections in healthcare facilities with a travel history to China in the last 14 days, or with any contact with individuals with a travel history to China in the last 14 days, will be tested with RTK-Ag (antigen rapid test kit) Covid-19 test and then genome sequencing if they are found positive with Covid-19,” she added.
The additional precautionary measures were announced to deal with a potential upsurge of travellers from China after the country recently reopened its border for international travel after almost three years of self-isolation, starting on Jan 8, 2023.
China’s border has been effectively closed since February 2020 as the country maintained a zero-Covid policy.
Based on official figures provided by the World Health Organisation, the ministry said there were 148,659 new Covid-19 infections and 442 new deaths in China from Dec 11 to 17.

Following China’s decision to reopen its borders, Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke on Friday said Malaysia would see a spike in flight demand.
According to a report, Malaysia is one of the top 10 countries that Chinese nationals want to visit.
Malaysia’s tourism industry players on Thursday expressed eagerness in receiving visitors from China following the relaxation.

The Malaysia Inbound Tourism Association (Mita) said Beijing’s decision to scrap quarantine for travellers and reopen its borders is expected to bring three million tourists to Malaysia, which would help boost the economy.
Mita president Uzaidi Udanis told reporters that “China is very important” because it has “big volume” and the Chinese are big spenders.
“This will be able to contribute good numbers for Malaysia’s economy,” he said, noting that the industry will comply with any health protocols as “good health means good business”.
Although industry players are expecting a million travellers from China in 2023, the soaring number of Covid-19 cases there and the increased risk of a new variant emerging have kept them wary.
The Malaysia Tourism Agency Association (Mata) on Thursday urged the government to temporarily suspend the entry of tourists from China until the daily cases of Covid-19 there drop.
“We are all aware that hospitals across China are facing explosions of Covid-19 cases following Beijing’s decision to withdraw its strict regulations,” Mata president Mohd Khalid Harun said, tempering optimism of a lift for the local tourism industry from China’s rule relaxation.
“The trauma faced by players in the tourism industry due to the Covid-19 outbreak has yet to be resolved; in fact, many travel agencies and hotels have been closed due to the virus, incurring billions of ringgit in losses in the past two years,” he added.
He advised industry players to shift their focus to tourists from the Middle East and Europe, without relying on visitors from China for now.

 

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Tourists from China not a Covid-19 threat to S’pore’s population: Infectious diseases expert​

Singapore has maintained its prevailing Covid-19 rules for incoming travellers from China. PHOTO: ST FILE

Clara Chong

Dec 30, 2022

SINGAPORE – Travellers from China do not pose much of a Covid-19 threat to Singapore’s highly vaccinated and resilient population, though there might be a surge in mild cases if the country sees a significant influx of Chinese travellers.
Professor Dale Fisher, a senior infectious diseases consultant at National University Hospital (NUH), made these comments on Friday, as Singapore maintains its prevailing Covid-19 rules for incoming travellers from China, which plans to reopen its borders from Jan 8, 2023.
There are two possible areas of threat to Singapore, he added. One is the threat to Singapore residents, which is very low, and the other is to the Singapore health system.
“If travellers from China have the mindset that with a mild disease they will need to rush to the hospital, then that could be a problem. But I think that can be dealt with by giving them some instructions when they arrive,” Prof Fisher said.
Travellers who are not fully vaccinated, as defined by the World Health Organisation, must undergo pre-departure tests before they can enter Singapore. Short-term visitors are also required to buy insurance for Covid-19-related medical expenses.
China will resume issuing visas to its residents to travel overseas from Jan 8, loosening the country’s zero-Covid regime and ending almost three years of strict quarantine rules.
Prof Fisher does not think that there is a need to set up a testing regimen for asymptomatic travellers, given the costs and infrastructure needed for it, and that most travellers are likely to be vaccinated.

“Setting up testing facilities is not so straightforward and cheap, and we wouldn’t want to do it unless we were really confident that it was necessary. Testing won’t capture all the cases and many people will only turn Covid-19 positive a few days later anyway. Supervised isolation will also be difficult as hotels are back to business as usual,” he added.
When asked if there is a possibility that an entirely new Covid-19 variant might emerge, Prof Fisher said that the chances are low.
“Covid-19 has been ongoing for three years and, yes, we do see smaller mutations. But we do not see a sudden large shift in genetic material that comes from a completely different strain...
“The threats from new novel agents do emerge and our preparedness needs to remain strong. We know the drill. The first thing up if something serious happens will be our mask mandates,” he added.

 

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Spain to require travellers from China test negative for Covid-19 or be fully vaccinated​

Spain also said it would coordinate with other member countries to adopt a common policy. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

Dec 30, 2022

MADRID - People travelling from China to Spain will be required to test negative for Covid-19 or prove they have been fully vaccinated against the disease, Spain’s top health official said on Friday.
Earlier this month, China began dismantling the world’s strictest Covid-19 regime of lockdowns and extensive testing in an abrupt change of policy.
China also lifted most of its travel restrictions this week.
“At a national level, we will implement airport controls requiring all passengers coming from China to show a negative Covid-19 test or proof of a full vaccination course,” Health Minister Carolina Darias told reporters.
The new measure comes after the European Union’s Health Security Committee met on Thursday to discuss the bloc’s common strategy to mitigate the spread of the virus with the influx of visitors from China.
Ms Darias added that Spain would coordinate at a high level with other member countries to adopt a common policy, while pushing for a revision of the current conditions that need to be met by travellers seeking to obtain the EU’s so-called Digital Covid Certificate.
Countries such as Italy, South Korea, the United States, India and Japan have also imposed mandatory testing for visitors from China.

Chinese state media said on Friday the testing requirements imposed around the world in response to a surging wave of infections are “discriminatory”. REUTERS

 

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S’pore ready to step up border measures if needed, MOH monitoring situation as China reopens​

Non-fully vaccinated travellers entering Singapore continue to require a pre-departure test within two days before departure. PHOTO: ST FILE

Clara Chong

Dec 30, 2022

SINGAPORE - The Ministry of Health (MOH) stands ready to step up measures if necessary, closely monitoring the global Covid-19 situation even as China reopens its borders from Jan 8, 2023.
Non-fully vaccinated travellers entering Singapore continue to require a pre-departure test within two days before departure.
Non-fully vaccinated short-term visitors must also have travel insurance with a minimum coverage of $30,000 for Covid-related medical expenses. All air and sea travellers must submit a health declaration upon arrival.
Despite some public concern about the high level of infections in China and announcements by other countries such as India, Italy and Japan of new testing requirements for all travellers from China, Singapore’s local situation has remained stable even after the XBB-variant wave, said MOH.
At this stage of the pandemic, the most important factor is Singapore’s population immunity.
MOH said: “We cannot completely stop infections, and indeed the virus has continued to circulate in our communities, but we can ensure that infections result in few cases of hospitalisations and severe illnesses.”
Singapore’s seven-day moving average of local Covid-19 cases is 729, the number of Covid-related hospitalisations remains below 100, and the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care remains in the single digits, MOH said.

Paediatric and bivalent vaccines are available to strengthen the nation’s already high immunity, it added.
With new Covid-19 treatment facilities and expanded transitional care facilities also available, Singapore is in a stronger position to live with the virus, becoming more resilient with each wave, MOH stressed.
However, the ministry remains vigilant, closely watching the global situation, especially with an increase in caseloads in many countries due to the uptick in international travel and onset of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

China, which is facing a large infection wave, is currently of particular concern.
First, there is the possible emergence of new and more dangerous variants, MOH said.
Singapore has been working with our international partners, including Gisaid, which maintains a pathogen genomics database, to monitor the variants circulating globally.

Singapore also conducts its own genomic surveillance on local and imported cases. So far, based on the sequencing results submitted by the Centres for Disease Control of various Chinese cities, the strains circulating in China are known ones, and no new variants with greater transmissibility or severity than previously identified sub-variants have been detected, MOH said.
The second concern is that travellers should not add significant burden to the hospitals.
At present, Singapore’s airport sees between 700 and 1,000 arrivals from China daily, or about 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent of total daily arrivals by air. The majority are residents and long-term pass holders returning to Singapore.
On a weekly basis, MOH has detected between 40 and 80 Covid-19 cases from among these travellers. All of them exhibited mild symptoms, except one returning Singaporean who had become severely ill after recent travel to China.
As air travel with China is progressively restored, MOH will take a cautious approach towards increasing seat capacity on planes, taking into account the overall public health assessment, the ministry said.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

UK, France to require negative Covid-19 tests for arrivals from China​

Passengers from China bound for Britain will not be allowed to board a flight without providing evidence of a negative test result. PHOTO: REUTERS

Dec 31, 2022

LONDON - The UK and France said on Friday that passengers arriving from China would require a negative Covid-19 test, following a surge in infections in China.
From Jan 5 in Britain, Chinese travellers will need to show a negative Covid-19 test taken no more than two days prior to departure, the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care said in a statement.
Separately, France said travellers from China would need to provide a negative Covid-19 test result less than 48 hours before departure, and that travellers on planes arriving from China would also have to wear masks.
France did not set a start date for the measures but will publish a government decree and notify European Union member states.
From Jan 1, France will also carry out random PCR Covid-19 tests upon arrival on some travellers coming from China, a government official told reporters.
The moves come after doubts over the transparency of official data from Beijing raised concerns about a wave of infections.
Britain said airlines will be required to check all passengers from China for tests, and passengers will not be allowed to board a flight without providing evidence of a negative test result.

Britain and France join other countries, including the United States and India, to impose Covid-19 tests for travellers from China.
South Korea and Spain have also done so.

Britain’s Times and Telegraph newspapers on Friday reported that British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had weighed in to take the step.
The BBC had earlier reported that the UK government was set to announce the China arrival policy, without providing a specific time.
UK officials had said on Thursday that the government was reviewing whether to impose restrictions on people arriving from China.
Chinese state media on Friday called the imposition of Covid-19 tests by various countries on travellers arriving from China “discriminatory”.
China has rejected criticism of its Covid-19 statistics and said it expects mutations to be more infectious but less severe. REUTERS

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Forum: Better to err on the side of caution on travellers from China​

Dec 31, 2022

I read with apprehension Singapore’s decision to maintain the status quo on Covid-19 measures for travellers from China (No change in S’pore’s Covid-19 measures for travellers from China, Dec 29).
This feeling, which is shared by many, is due to the uncertainty over the true scale of China’s infection as well as the speed with which China moved from a strict zero-Covid policy to an extensive reopening of its borders.
Over the last three years, our nation has sacrificed a lot on both the social and economic fronts to arrive at where we are today. It would be a pity if, for any reason, we have to re-impose circuit breaker measures.
While the Ministry of Health has given assurances that it is monitoring the international Covid-19 situation and will adjust its border health measures should the need arise, I appeal to the authorities to place more emphasis on pre-emptive rather than corrective measures. Given the lethality of the coronavirus and its sub-variants, it would not be too costly to err on the side of caution, as countries such as Japan, Italy and the United States are doing.

Karen Yip Lai Kham

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Covid-19 mutation risk drives rush to test travellers from China​

1 of 2

Travellers arriving from China line up for Covid-19 testing in Malpensa Airport in Milan, Italy, on Dec 29, 2022. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Jan 1, 2023

BEIJING – Covid-19 testing requirements for passengers travelling from China highlight mounting concerns about the potential for undetected new strains of the virus spawned by the country’s burgeoning outbreak.
When the US imposed requirements for travellers from China to show negative test results, it also expanded a programme that collects voluntary samples from international passengers at airports to help monitor variants entering the country. On Saturday, Canada said travellers from China, Hong Kong and Macau will need to produce a negative Covid-19 test, while Morocco went even further with a ban on visitors from China.
The latest restrictions come after Britain and France on Friday joined the rush of countries testing passengers and sequencing samples from people arriving from China in an effort to identify any dangerous new mutations that could spread rapidly through their populations.
The scenario echoes the pandemic’s early days, when China was criticised for not releasing key genetic data on the virus until weeks after news of the new illness became public.
The country’s health officials have said that sentinel hospitals are monitoring mutations in samples taken from patients in emergency rooms and outpatient clinics. However, most of that data hasn’t yet been shared internationally, health experts say.
“In the absence of comprehensive information from #China, it is understandable that countries around the world are acting in ways that they believe may protect their populations,” World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Twitter. The global health group needs more detailed information from China in order to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment, he said.
Representatives from China’s National Health Commission and the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration briefed WHO officials on Friday on their strategy and actions to battle the outbreak.

​

“WHO again asked for regular sharing of specific and real-time data on the epidemiological situation – including more genetic sequencing data, data on disease impact including hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths,” the organisation said in a statement. WHO officials stressed the “importance of monitoring and the timely publication of data to help China and the global community to formulate accurate risk assessments and to inform effective responses”.
Whether China’s outbreak has had any impact on Covid-19 trends in the US isn’t clear, according to Ms Kristen Nordlund, a spokesperson for the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. But the agency is closely monitoring the situation, she said on Friday in an email.
“With China’s lack of population immunity against Covid-19 there is the possibility that a new variant of concern could emerge,” Ms Nordlund said.

Business as usual​

Officials at GISAID, the consortium tracking Covid-19 mutations, said they’re reassured by a spurt of recent submissions from China. The group has received nearly 1,000 genetic sequences in the past week from across the country, provided by provincial health authorities and private health-care facilities.
“The variants continue to circulate without any significant changes that raise any specter of concern,” said Mr Peter Bogner, GISAID’s founder. “You do not have any kind of data that suggest anything but business as usual.”
In other parts of the world outside China where the virus is spreading rapidly, sequencing efforts that could identify new variants are falling off, Bogner said. Chinese health officials say that they’ve promptly shared sequencing data with the WHO.
“There’s nothing we have kept to ourselves,” Dr Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said last Thursday. “All of our sequencing work has been shared with the whole world.”

A passenger from Beijing leaves the terminal after landing at the Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport in Barajas, Madrid, on Dec 31, 2022. PHOTO: AFP
Nine Omicron subvariants are dominating in the country’s outbreak, Dr Wu said. Limited sequencing data shared publicly show that the variants are largely the same as strains found elsewhere in the world, such as BF.7 and BA.5.2, according to the data analytics firm Airfinity, and there’s no evidence yet that a new variant of concern has emerged. But it may only be a matter of time and with limited information being shared, it’s difficult for the rest of the world to prepare, experts say.
“The situation in China makes us very worried,” said Dr Wilbur Lam, who runs the US National Institutes of Health’s RADx Tech Testing Validation Core out of his labs at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. New requirements for travellers from China to show a negative test no more than two days before flying to the US aren’t “a perfect policy measure”, he said.
Viruses like Covid-19 are able to mutate each time they reproduce. Sometimes the mutations are insignificant, or even prevent the virus from growing. But in rare cases, new mutations can grant advantages that allow particular strains to spread quickly.

Travellers arriving from China line up for Covid-19 testing in Malpensa Airport in Milan, Italy, on Dec 29, 2022. PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Keeping up with viral evolution has posed difficult challenges for drugmakers. For example, updated booster shots from Moderna and the partnership of Pfizer and BioNTech SE were designed to target early omicron variants B4 and B5. During the time those shots were developed, however, those variants were replaced by faster-spreading BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 variants.
In recent weeks, another variant called XBB has picked up steam. Health experts are worried that these strains may be better able to evade immune protection from vaccines and prior infections, and perhaps give rise to offspring that are even more elusive.

‘Serious threats’​

The BQ and XBB subvariants of omicron “present serious threats to current Covid-19 vaccines, render inactive all authorized antibodies, and may have gained dominance in the population because of their advantage in evading antibodies”, researchers from Columbia University wrote in a study published this month in the journal Cell.
Mutations in XBB, which is prevalent in the US Northeast, have rendered at least one Covid-19 test made by DxTerity Diagnostics less reliable, US regulators said last Thursday. In general, scientists are finding that it takes a bit longer for tests to turn positive when omicron infections are present, Dr Lam said.
Despite the rapid growth of cases there, China may not yet be fertile ground for variants that evade humans’ natural or vaccine-aided immunity, said Dr Sam Scarpino, the director of Artificial Intelligence and Life Sciences at Northeastern University’s Institute for Experiential AI. Relatively few people there have gained immunity conferred by vaccines or previous infections for the virus to genetically dodge.
However, as infections continue to mount with scant mitigation measures in place to stop the virus from spreading in China, new variants could soon cause problems, Dr Scarpino said.
“In a month or two, we want to be watching very closely for that,” he said in an interview. BLOOMBERG

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Australia, Canada to start Covid-19 testing for travellers from China, HK​

The temporary measure has been put in place because of a “lack of comprehensive information” about the situation in China. PHOTO: AFP

Jan 1, 2023

SYDNEY – Australia said travellers departing from China, Hong Kong and Macau will require a negative Covid-19 test before boarding flights to the country.
The temporary measure, which will start on Jan 5, has been put in place because of a “lack of comprehensive information” about the situation in China, said Health Minister Mark Butler on Sunday.
“The decision to implement these temporary measures has been made out of an abundance of caution, taking into account the dynamic and evolving situation in China, and the potential for new variants to emerge in an environment of high transmission,” the minister said in a statement. Tests will need to be taken in the 48 hours prior to travel.
The government is also considering additional measures including testing wastewater from airplanes and voluntary sampling at airports for arrivals, Mr Butler told a news conference.
“I want to stress that the government welcomes the resumption of travel between Australia and China... I also want to stress that this is a temporary measure, reflecting the lack of comprehensive information right now about the situation in China,” he said.
There is a growing list of countries testing passengers and sequencing samples from people arriving from China in an effort to identify any dangerous new mutations that could spread rapidly through their populations. They include the United States, Japan, Britain and France.
Canada joined that list on Saturday, and will require travellers arriving from China, Hong Kong and Macau from Jan 5 to provide evidence of a negative Covid-19 test result – taken no more than two days before their departure – to airlines prior to boarding.

The move is taken in response to the surge of Covid-19 cases in China and “the limited epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data available on these cases”, the government said in a statement, adding that the measure will be assessed after 30 days as more data and evidence becomes available. BLOOMBERG

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

France urges EU peers to test Chinese travellers for COVID​

Passengers line up at the check-in counter at the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing on Jan 1, 2023. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Jan 1, 2023

PARIS - France on Sunday urged European Union peers to test Chinese travellers for Covid-19 after Paris decided to do so amid an outbreak sweeping the country.
Only Italy and Spain also require tests in the 27-nation, largely border-free EU, and health officials from across the bloc failed last week to agree on a joint course.
More talks will follow this week.
From Sunday, France is requiring that travellers from China provide a negative Covid-19 test result less than 48 hours before departure, and will randomly test those arriving.
“France will push for this methodology to be applied across the EU,” Health Minister François Braun said as he and Transport Minister Clement Beaune checked on the new procedures at Paris’ Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport.
Asked about the fact that a Chinese traveller with Covid-19 could for the time being land in another EU country and then travel unchecked to France, Mr Beaune said: “This is why we must coordinate (across the EU), to be more efficient.”
Having kept its borders all but shut for three years, imposing a strict regime of lockdowns and relentless testing, Beijing abruptly reversed course toward living with the virus on Dec 7, and infections have spread rapidly in recent weeks. REUTERS

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Covid-19 variants in China also detected in Malaysia​

The health ministry is urging the public to get a vaccine booster shot as soon as possible. PHOTO: REUTERS

Jan 3, 2022

PETALING JAYA – Covid-19 variants and sub-variants found in China have been detected in Malaysia, said Malaysia’s Health Minister Zaliha Mustafa.
This is based on information from the World Health Organisation (WHO), she said, without specifying which variants while urging the public to get a vaccine booster shot as soon as possible.
“The ministry is in close communication with the WHO, China and our peers from Asean. Based on reports, the WHO had a meeting with China on sharing the latest data and will continue to obtain detailed information, (updates) on the situation and Covid-19 management in the country,” Dr Zaliha said.
“Based on the report by China to WHO, the variants and sub-variants found in China have also been detected in Malaysia.”
The WHO had a high-level meeting with China on Dec 30, and the United Nations agency said after the meeting that it had requested regular sharing of specific and real-time data on the epidemiological situation.
Multiple reports have attributed the surge of infections in China to the sub-variant of Omicron named BF.7.


This included more genetic sequencing data, data on disease impact including hospitalisations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and deaths as well as vaccinations delivered and vaccination status, especially in vulnerable people and those over 60.

Dr Zaliha urged those who have exceeded a six-month period since their first booster shot to get a second dose without waiting for the bivalent vaccine to be available.
Citing existing data, she said the monovalent Covid-19 vaccines offered effective protection in preventing serious symptoms and fatalities. The vaccines also reduce hospitalisation rates, she added.
“The bivalent vaccines will be supplied soon, as the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) has already given conditional approval,” she said, adding that an announcement will be made on recipients’ eligibility after the supplies arrive.

The conditional approval for the bivalent vaccine was given on Dec 14, and supplies are expected to arrive in early 2023.
Bivalent vaccines provide protection against the original Sars-CoV-2 virus and the Omicron sub-variants such as BA.4 and BA.5, which were previously said to be vaccine-resistant.
She hoped that the uptake for booster shots would continue to rise especially among high-risk individuals, with 49.8 per cent of Malaysians receiving their first booster dose and 1.9 per cent their second.
She also advised the public to observe precautionary measures and safety measures as well as to practice TRIIS (trace, report, isolate, inform and seek treatment).
Dr Zaliha said the ministry was also weighing public considerations on the surge of infections in China and restrictions imposed by other nations on travellers from that country.

Adding that the matter is a priority for the ministry, she said preventive measures and preparations to face any potential surge of Covid-19 cases would be stepped up.
She said that if necessary, the measures could be expanded to travellers from other countries as well, not just from China.
Several countries such as Japan, India, the United States, Italy and Taiwan are among those which have imposed mandatory Covid-19 testing for travellers arriving from China.
The surge in cases and the lack of reliable official data on the spread of Covid-19 in China has become a concern ahead of anticipated tourist and business travel arrivals from the country. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Up to 70% of Shanghai’s population infected with Covid-19: Top doctor​

The Omicron variant is spreading rampantly across Shanghai and experts predict infections there will peak in early 2023. PHOTO: AFP

Jan 5, 2023

SHANGHAI - A senior doctor at one of Shanghai’s top hospitals has said 70 per cent of the megacity’s population may have been infected with Covid-19 during China’s huge surge in cases, state media reported on Tuesday.
The steep rise in infections came after three years of hardline restrictions were abruptly loosened last month with little warning or preparation, and quickly overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums.
Dr Chen Erzhen, vice-president at Ruijin Hospital and a member of Shanghai’s Covid-19 expert advisory panel, estimated that the majority of the city’s 25 million people may have been infected.
“Now the spread of the epidemic in Shanghai is very wide, and it may have reached 70 per cent of the population, which is 20 to 30 times more than (in April and May),” he told Dajiangdong Studio, owned by the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily.
Shanghai suffered a gruelling two-month lockdown from April, during which over 600,000 residents were infected and many were hauled to mass quarantine centres.
But now the Omicron variant is spreading rampantly across the city.
In other major cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing and Guangzhou, Chinese health officials have suggested that the wave has already peaked.

​

In neighbouring Zhejiang province, disease control authorities said on Tuesday that there had been one million new infections in recent days and that the province was entering a peak plateau for Covid-19.
Dr Chen added that his Shanghai hospital was seeing 1,600 emergency admissions daily – double the number prior to restrictions being lifted – with 80 per cent of them Covid-19 patients.
“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.


At Tongren Hospital in downtown Shanghai, AFP reporters saw patients receiving emergency medical attention outside the entrance of the overcrowded emergency ward on Tuesday.
The corridors overflowed with dozens of elderly patients lying on beds crammed together, hooked up to IV drips. Some patients wore oxygen masks attached to bedside canisters.

‘Enormous challenge’​

Chinese officials are readying for a virus wave to hit China’s under-resourced rural interior, as millions of people prepare to travel back to their home towns for the week-long Chinese New Year public holiday beginning on Jan 21.
In an interview with state broadcaster CCTV on Monday, National Health Commission (NHC) official Jiao Yahui admitted that dealing with the expected peak in rural areas would be an “enormous challenge”.
“What we are most worried about is in the past three years, nobody has returned home for Chinese New Year but they finally can this year,” said Ms Jiao.
“As a result, there may be a retaliatory surge of urban residents into the countryside to visit their relatives, so we are even more worried about the rural epidemic.”

She also acknowledged pressure on hospital emergency departments and promised that the authorities would coordinate medical resources to ensure treatment of patients in underfunded areas.
Meanwhile, around a dozen countries have imposed Covid-19 testing restrictions on passengers from China after Beijing announced its borders would reopen from Jan 8.
Countries including the United States have also cited Beijing’s lack of transparency around infection data and the risk of new variants as a reason to restrict travellers.
China has recorded only 22 Covid-19 deaths since December and has dramatically narrowed the criteria for classifying such deaths.
But Ms Jiao told reporters on Thursday that China had always published data “on Covid-19 deaths and severe cases in the spirit of openness and transparency”.
“China has always been committed to the scientific criteria for judging Covid-19 deaths, from beginning to end, which are in line with the international criteria,” Ms Jiao said. AFP

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

'Majority' of EU wants tests on passengers from China​

The European Union fears a sudden influx of passengers from China could bring Covid-19 variants that may be able to evade current vaccines. PHOTO: REUTERS

Jan 4, 2023

BRUSSELS - An “overwhelming majority” of the EU’s 27 member countries want passengers coming from China to be systematically tested for Covid-19 before departure, the European Commission said on Tuesday.
The consensus recommendation emerged from a meeting of EU health ministry officials held Tuesday in Brussels.
A crisis meeting to be held on Wednesday on the issue will decide what coordinated measures will be applied across the bloc.
The gatherings were called in the wake of China deciding to lift its “zero-Covid” policy, which has sparked massive demand for flights to other parts of the world by Chinese citizens and residents who had been grounded for nearly three years.
The European Union fears a sudden influx of passengers from China could bring Covid-19 variants that may be able to evade current vaccines.
There are also concerns that China’s data on infections is incomplete, partial and insufficient.
“The overwhelming majority of countries are in favour of pre-departure testing,” a commission spokesman said after Tuesday’s meeting.

EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said the officials also agreed to recommend stepped-up monitoring of wastewater from flights and at airports to detect traces of Covid-19, and for member states to boost surveillance.
She emphasised the need for EU “unity” at the meeting to take place on Wednesday.
Several EU countries including France, Spain and Italy have already imposed testing requirements on arrivals from China pending a bloc-wide approach.
Beijing has reacted angrily to the increased restrictions, which are also being applied by the United States, Japan and Australia.
China has only recorded 22 Covid-19 deaths since December and has dramatically narrowed the criteria for classifying such deaths – meaning that Beijing’s own statistics about the unprecedented wave are now widely seen as not reflecting reality.
Data compiled by the World Health Organisation, upon which the EU relies, shows no fresh Covid-19 figures from China for over a week.

Earlier on Tuesday, the commission said an “offer stands” for the EU to provide Covid-19 vaccines and expertise to China.
A spokesman said Ms Kyriakides had repeated the vaccine offer recently and that any supply of them was dependent on Beijing’s reaction.
Many EU countries have a surplus of mRNA vaccines – especially the one made by BioNTech/Pfizer – that scientific studies have shown to be more effective against severe Covid-19 than the inactivated-virus ones China has developed and uses. AFP

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Austria to monitor wastewater of flights from China​

Austria will also monitor wastewater in cities that are top Chinese tourist attractions. PHOTO: REUTERS

Jan 4, 2023

VIENNA - Austria will start monitoring wastewater from aircraft from China and in top Chinese tourist attractions as Europe mulls restrictions for those from the Covid-19 hit country, the government said on Tuesday.
As Beijing has decided to lift its “zero Covid” policy, the European Union fears a sudden influx of passengers from China could bring Covid-19 variants that may be able to evade current vaccines.
“Starting next week, Austria will examine samples from the wastewater from aircraft from China,” Austria’s health ministry said in a statement.
It added wastewater from the sewage plant of the picturesque village of Hallstatt – a top Chinese tourist destination – would also be analysed.
This is in addition to wastewater in the cities of Vienna and Salzburg, which is already being monitored as part of a national programme launched at the beginning of last year.
“With this, some places frequently visited by tourists from China are regularly examined,” the ministry said.
“This makes it possible to discover new virus variants, even if visitors from China have not entered the country with direct flights.”

The European Commission said on Tuesday that an “overwhelming majority” of the EU’s 27 member countries want passengers coming from China to be systematically tested for Covid-19 before departure.
The consensus recommendation emerged from a meeting of EU health ministry officials held Tuesday in Brussels.
A crisis meeting to be held on Wednesday on the issue will decide what coordinated measures will be applied across the bloc.
EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said the officials also agreed to recommend stepped-up monitoring of wastewater from flights and at airports to detect traces of Covid-19, and for member states to boost surveillance. AFP

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Australia defends Covid-19 tests for China arrivals​

From Thursday, travellers from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau will need to test negative no more than 48 hours before departing for Australia. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Jan 4, 2023



SYDNEY - Australia’s government on Wednesday criticised Beijing’s lack of Covid-19 transparency, after overruling its chief medical officer and ramping up testing for travellers from China.
A growing list of countries – including the United States, Britain, France and Japan – have recently slapped China with more stringent travel testing requirements.
China, battling a surge in cases after relaxing its “zero-Covid” policy, has denounced the measures as “unacceptable” while threatening to retaliate.
From Thursday, travellers from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau will need to test negative no more than 48 hours before departing for Australia.
Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly advised the government against the requirement, writing in a government briefing that it lacked “sufficient public health rationale”.
“There is strong consensus that implementation of any restrictions to travel from China at this time would be inconsistent with the current national approach to the management of COVID-19 and disproportionate to the risk,” he wrote.
But Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday said the government was acting “out of an abundance of caution”.

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“It’s about a part of the world where we have concerns about transparency,” he told national broadcaster ABC.
Asked if the restrictions were politically motivated, Mr Chalmers said he didn’t “see it precisely like that”.
“There certainly is a lot of concern around the global health community about the transparency and quality of data that we see out of China on Covid.”
Data compiled by the World Health Organisation shows no fresh Covid-19 figures from China for more than a week.
Australia’s previous conservative government angered China in 2020 by pushing for an international investigation into the origins of the pandemic, first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
The new centre-left government has spent the past few months trying to reset its relationship with Beijing. AFP

 

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