AFP extension
ANNOUNCEMENTS•
The World Health Organization (WHO) has once again asked China to share current medical data on the corona epidemic. This concerns data on vaccinations, virus variants, hospital admissions, IC admissions and deaths.
These data should help China and the rest of the world make good risk assessments and, if necessary, design effective measures, WHO said in a statement.
After nearly three years of an extremely tough coronavirus policy, China eased the reins on Dec. 7. According to the Chinese government, 5,000 new infections are added every day. According to experts, there should be much more nearly 250 million Chinese have been and are being infected by the easing of corona policy.
New variants
Scientists warn that the epidemic could create new variants, which will then be taken abroad.
Related to this, several countries are already checking whether travelers from China carry the virus, including Japan, the United States, Spain, France and Italy. WHO calls it understandable. The Netherlands offers Chinese arriving at Schiphol a self-test.
Virologist Marion Koopmans said earlier this week that the situation in China is likely at the moment not very worrying for the Netherlands. According to her, China’s lack of openness about the virus is a point of concern.
