United States and a number of other countries announced they would require negative Covid tests for all travellers from mainland China. | via philstarlife
Hospitals across China have been overwhelmed by an explosion of infections following Beijing's decision to lift strict rules that had largely kept the virus at bay but tanked the economy and sparked widespread protests.
"The recent rapid increase in COVID-19 transmission in China increases the potential for new variants emerging," a senior US health official told reporters in a phone briefing. Beijing has hit out against"hyping, smearing and political manipulation" by the Western media concerning its COVID response. Visitors to China must also provide a negative PCR test taken no more than 48 hours before entering the country.
France's president said he had"requested appropriate measures to protect" citizens and Paris was closely monitoring"the evolution of the situation in China". In Tianjin, around 140 kilometres southeast of the capital Beijing, AFP visited two hospitals overwhelmed with patients.AFP saw more than two dozen mostly elderly patients lying on gurneys in public areas of the emergency department, and at least one dead person being wheeled out of a ward.