COVID Highlights | Chinese CDC data suggests no new COVID-19 strains in China, says WHO
People queue at a community vaccination centre, ahead of an expected border reopening with China, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Hong Kong, China, January 4, 2023. Photograph: (Reuters)
Key Updates
05 Jan 2023, 9:46 (IST)
European Union nations have drawn out various travel-related measures for people travelling from China, although no country is bound to implement them. At a crisis meeting held Wednesday, officials recommended that passengers flying from China to the EU should have a negative COVID-19 test before they board.
05 Jan 2023, 9:16 (IST)
US President Joe Biden has raised concern over China's handling of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country. After World Health Organisation (WHO) said China was under-reporting deaths from the disease, Biden said, "They're very sensitive … when we suggest they haven't been that forthcoming." The United States is one of the several countries that have imposed restrictions on travellers from China ever since the country scrapped its overseas travel policy.
05 Jan 2023, 8:24 (IST)
The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that no new COVID-19 variants have been identified in data from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, it reiterated, the data coming from China is still not complete and comprehensive.
A closed-door meeting of the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution, in which the Chinese CDC shared data, showed that the variants circulating in China are the Omicron strains already out in the open and no new variants were reported.
05 Jan 2023, 7:58 (IST)
Fearing a rapid spread in infection once the borders with China reopens, Hong Kong residents are running to clinics to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Almost all city government centres administering BioNTech vaccine have in recent days been mostly booked solid, some until February.
"After the opening of the border, I expect there will be more infected people on the streets, I want to reduce my chance of getting infected,” said a Hong Kong resident surnamed Wan, 33, who got his fourth shot this week.