Research, editing : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA
News on disease control, CCP, Taiwan, Japan, U.S., South Korea, Italy
News (1) to (3) / https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/breakingnews/4167524
News (1)
Want to create trouble? China hides the epidemic and does not allow family members to register the deceased "died of novel coronavirus pneumonia"
Image : The outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan, China, caused long queues in funeral parlors in Beijing, Shanghai and other major cities, but the cause of death of the deceased was not allowed to be registered as "novel coronavirus pneumonia". (Reuters, Twitter, synthesized by Liberty Times)
The CCP government will no longer release daily Wuhan pneumonia (novel coronavirus pneumonia, covid, COVID-19) epidemic data since 25 December 2022. "Virus infection" is tantamount to "laying down" after "folding the card", allowing various places to downplay the epidemic or directly falsify, which is unbearable.
Videos of long queues at funeral parlors in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, or waiting in line for number plates at crematoriums are widely circulated on the Internet. It is also rumored that funeral parlours ask the family members of victims of the epidemic to promise that their loved ones did not die from the virus or otherwise the deceased is not allowed to be cremated, and even to go to the household registration office to cancel the deceased's household registration, they have to queue up.
Central News Agency reported on 27 December that a netizen posted a complaint in the "WeChat" circle of friends that his mother died of illness in a certain municipal hospital on the 25th. When filling out the death certificate, due to obvious symptoms, he reminded that the direct cause of death was a typical "novel coronavirus pneumonia." , but was questioned by two doctors, "Do you want to make trouble?"
The netizen alleged that the doctor said that as long as the death certificate says “COVID-19”, it must be checked by the hospital, and if it is true, the local health committee must be notified, “Do you not want your mother to be cremated?” In the end, he could only agree not to write covid as the cause of death, "Now it is a public fraud, and you are forced to cooperate with the fraud", thinking that "this should be a unified operation of hospitals across the country."
Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on 27 December that a netizen photographed a service hall of a funeral parlor in a certain place, and a post at the reception counter read: "I promise that the deceased... did not die from the novel coronavirus pneumonia. If there is any concealment, I am willing to bear the responsibility The reminder of "All Responsibility" has been questioned as the official deliberately concealing the death toll from the epidemic.
News (2)
In rural areas of CCP China, corpses with covid have to be buried together, cremated together in "designated areas"
Twitter friend "Zhao Lanjian" posted a photo showing that in Beijing even the registration of the deceased had to be queued up; in rural areas of Gansu, Guangxi, Ningxia, Anhui, Fujian, and Northeast China received notices from the government that the dead should be placed in designated areas, buried together, cremated together", "Common prosperity has become a common burial, and China has 'mass graves'".
News (3)
Corpses at home for one week as the crematorium was too late to dispose the remains
RFA quoted Shanghai businessman "Ms. Fang" as reporting that the local crematorium was too late to dispose of the remains, causing the family members of the covid victims to put the corpses at home. "Let me tell you that the most terrifying thing is not the dead. 1 day, 2 days, 3 days... 6 days, 7 days, Shanghai, the whole country... ".
News (4)
It is said that the family members of the deceased in China must promise the crematorium the deceased died not due to covid before cremation or the deceased will not be cremated
Editor : Yun Tao / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2022/12/27/a103608180.html / Image : On 20 December 2022, a funeral home in Beijing. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images)
CCP China quickly relaxed the epidemic control, and at the same time suppressed the relevant death data in various ways. A notice was posted at the counter of a funeral u, requiring the family members to promise that the deceased did not die of COVID-19; some netizens said that the doctor threatened that "novel coronavirus pneumonia" could not be written on the death certificate.
On social media platforms Twitter and WeChat, videos of long queues at funeral parlors in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, or queues at crematoria have recently been circulated. There is also a video claiming that in the hospital mortuary in Beijing, the freezers are no longer sufficient, and more wrapped remains are piled up outside.
However, officials are unable to provide credible and effective data on how many people have died from the recent outbreak in China.
A netizen complained in a WeChat circle of friends, "Now it is a public fraud, and you are forced to cooperate with the fraud." His mother died in a certain municipal hospital on 25 December. When filling out the death certificate, he reminded that the direct cause of death was a typical "novel coronavirus pneumonia (CCP virus)". Because of the obvious symptoms, two doctors asked him, "Yes. Did you want to make trouble?"
The doctor said that as long as the "novel coronavirus pneumonia" is written on the death certificate, it must be verified by the hospital. If verified, it must be reported to the Municipal Health Commission. "Do you not want your mother to be cremated?" In the end, he could only agree that the cause of death was not about covid, and think that "this should be a unified operation of hospitals across the country."
In the screenshot of this post, the screen name and avatar of the poster have been blurred.
According to U.S. media Radio Free Asia’s report today, a netizen photographed a service hall of a funeral parlour in a certain place, and a post at the reception counter read: “I promise that the deceased... did not die from the novel coronavirus pneumonia. If there is any concealment, I am willing to bear everything.” "responsibility" has deepened doubts that officials are suspected of concealing the death toll from the epidemic.
The National Health Commission of China (CCP) recently issued a notice definition: "Pneumonia and respiratory failure caused by the novel coronavirus are the primary diagnosis of death, which is classified as death caused by the novel coronavirus infection; deaths caused by other diseases, basic diseases, such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases , myocardial infarction and other diseases are not classified as deaths caused by the covid.”
CCP China has a stricter definition of covid death previously known as novel coronavirus pneumonia, which was renamed as novel coronavirus infection late at night on 26 December) than other countries in the world.
News (5)
Call "party members" to support "corpse collection"! The outbreak of the Shanghai epidemic has overloaded the state-owned cemetery
Image : After the unblocking of China, the epidemic broke out in various places. The picture shows a man holding a framed photo of his relative outside a funeral home in Shanghai. (Reuters)
The recent outbreak of the epidemic in China has seen a sharp increase in the number of cases of covid in various places. Some Chinese netizens reported that the first state-owned cemetery in Shanghai "Binhai Ancient Garden" posted an announcement on 26 December 2022, frankly admitting that at present, the business volume of funeral homes far exceeds the load of employees, so it is hoped that the Communist Party members can take the lead in supporting the heavy work of collecting corpses.
The Twitter account "Ms. Li is not your teacher" PO article pointed out that a Chinese netizen contributed an article saying that Binhai Ancient Garden posted a notice stating that "Currently, the three funeral homes under the Shanghai Funeral Service Center are experiencing overloaded business volume and serious shortage of manpower and material resources at the moment", so it is seeking the support of the majority of party members.
This document reads:
1. To recruit corpse pickers, men are required to have a driver's license (driver's license).
2. To recruit assistants to accompany the corpse pickers, males are required, with good psychological quality and physical strength.
3. Recruit staff on the platform for picking up corpses, male or female (indoor work).
Fourth, it is recommended that all party members and cadres and comrades take the lead and set an example, lead the broad masses of employees to overcome suffering, bravely shoulder heavy responsibilities, and overcome difficulties together. It is recommended that comrades who have been infected with covid and recovered, devote themselves to the support work with fearless spirit and tenacious will.
5. Under the premise of ensuring the normal operation of daily work (in principle, each department ensures that one employee is on duty every day, except for the business department), please call and mobilize more comrades to actively sign up. The registration deadline is 1 pm today.
Under this article, some netizens commented: "Some places don't care about burying. This one in Shanghai works so hard because of its background.", "What is the reward for going to support? Will you provide free cremation?", "Encourage party members to let others carry the corpses, and then encourage others to carry the corpses themselves.”
Some netizens also pointed out, "Generally, this kind of political requirements are also graded. The easy work is usually done by the big leaders. The slightly tiring work is assigned to the middle-level leaders. The most tiring work is assigned to the employees. Like picking up dead bodies and carrying dead bodies. What is dangerous is for employees to do it but financial subsidies will also be given. However, if you are infected with a deadly virus like this, it is not worth the amount of subsidies if you take the virus home.”
News (6)
Huge queue of traffic at Wuhan funeral parlour, crematorium burns corpses day and night
Reporters : Chen Jie, Li Shanshan and Zhou Tian / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2022/12/27/a103607784.html
Recently, the epidemic has broken out in mainland China, and the death toll has risen rapidly. The queue outside the funeral home in Wuhan, Hubei stretched for several kilometers, and the crematorium burned the corpses day and night, but they still could not burn them.
Online videos show that on 22 December, there was a long queue outside the Huangpi funeral home in Wuhan. Some netizens said that it was already past 9 pm, and he had been waiting for 5 hours, and there were still people coming in.
People in Wuhan: "There are so many people, there are so many people every day, and now the door is not allowed to enter."
Another screen showed that the hall of Hankou funeral parlor was crowded with people. A citizen told NTDTV on the 27th that there were 18 furnaces in the Hankou crematorium to burn the corpses day and night, but there were still too many corpses to be burned.
Mr. Fu, a citizen of Wuhan: "The situation is the same in every crematorium across the country. The Hankou crematorium is very large, with about 18 furnaces. If the corpses are burned at the same time, the 18 furnaces burn day and night, which takes half an hour, or 45 minutes, or one per hour, one stove burns at least 24 people a day."
The staff of the funeral home in Hankou revealed that the amount of cremation was so large that people had to wait 4 to 5 days to receive the ashes.
Hankou Funeral Home staff: "After receiving the ashes, cremate them in order, and wait 4 to 5 days to come directly to collect the ashes. When collecting the ashes, there are (allowed) two cars with 6 people, and then the family members are not allowed to come when the ashes are collected. "
Some citizens denounced the CCP authorities for not caring about the lives of the people.
Ms. Hua, a citizen of Wuhan: "I am covi-positive, and I still have a little cough. Now I heard that crematoriums are all made by appointment. A friend died after a few days, and cremating him still needs to make an appointment. He was cremated only the day before yesterday. The epidemic since 3 years , let go suddenly, it depends on your own immunity, you will die, you will live, no one cares. The common people know very well that many people have died, I am very angry, the people are not able to live."
Some netizens also said that looking back on the extent of the explosion of funeral parlors in Wuhan three years ago, in the end Wuhan said that only 2,531 people died.
In this regard, someone responded that the CCP’s news cannot even be trusted in punctuation marks.
News (7)
Many countries are strictly preventing Chinese from entering the country, and the CCP Ministry of Foreign Affairs actually asks other countries to "moderate epidemic prevention"
CCP officials suddenly announced the unblocking of the border in the middle of the night on 26 December 2022. After learning about it, many countries quickly launched relevant restrictions on the entry of Chinese tourists. In this regard, the CCP Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday (27 December 2022) that the CCP government has always adhered to "scientific epidemic prevention", and that the epidemic prevention measures of Wuhan pneumonia (covid, COVID-19) in various countries should also "adhere to the principle of scientific precision" and be "moderate", and should not affect normal personnel exchanges.
The CCP hastily announced the lifting of the lockdown earlier due to public grievances, which led to a rapid rise in the domestic epidemic situation, and the outside world is highly concerned. Late on Monday night, the National Health Commission announced that the border will be unsealed from 8 January 2023, and foreign personnel going to China will cancel all nucleic acid testing and centralized isolation measures and can be released.
As soon as the news came out, a large number of Chinese netizens were very happy, saying "I was finally able to go abroad after being locked up for nearly 3 years", but for other countries, they could not laugh at all. The current epidemic situation in China is still in the explosive stage, and the flow of people may be opened rashly. It will cause a new wave of epidemics to spread. Many countries, including Japan, South Korea, India, and Italy, have quickly launched measures such as "PCR testing on arrival" and "quarantine after entry" against Chinese tourists. Many Chinese people are dissatisfied with this and post their dissatisfaction and displeasure on social platforms.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin was asked about this by Agence France-Presse at a regular press conference on Tuesday and he said, "This epidemic prevention and control measure effectively coordinates the epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, and has made important contributions to the global solidarity against the epidemic and the recovery of the world economy. At present, it is necessary for all parties to fight the epidemic scientifically and work together to ensure the safe travel of people from all countries and safeguard the global economy. The stability of the industrial chain and supply chain has promoted the recovery of the world economy. China has always believed that the epidemic prevention measures of various countries should be scientific and appropriate, and should not affect normal personnel exchanges."
News (8)
CCP China's epidemic crisis spreads, Xi Jinping talks about "new task" of epidemic prevention
Editor : Wen Hui / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2022/12/27/a103607751.html / Image : On 23 December 2022, at the Fifth People's Hospital of Chongqing, medical staff transported an infected patient. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images)
After Xi Jinping gave up the "dynamic clearing", on December 26 he publicly talked about the epidemic prevention and control for the first time "facing new situations and new tasks". No specific countermeasures were proposed.
The Chinese Communist Party's Xinhua News Agency reported that Xi Jinping made the above statement on the 70th anniversary of the "Patriotic Sanitation Campaign" that day. He said that at present, the prevention and control of the covid epidemic in China is facing new situations and new tasks. It is necessary to carry out patriotic health campaigns in a more targeted manner, guide the general public to actively learn health knowledge, master health skills, and develop good health, personal hygiene habits, etc.
This is the first time Xi Jinping has made a statement on the current epidemic prevention and control since the CCP authorities suddenly relaxed the epidemic control at the beginning of this month.
In the past three years since the outbreak of the CCP virus epidemic, the government has initially implemented Xi Jinping's "dynamic clearing" compulsory epidemic prevention policy, from closing cities and roads, closing doors and districts, silent management, to dynamic clearing, social clearing, and collecting all receivables, should be inspected to the utmost extent, constantly changing various methods, and Xi Jinping "personally commanded and personally deployed", and did not prevent the spread of the epidemic.
On 7 December, the government suddenly promulgated 10 new epidemic prevention measures, abandoning the "dynamic clearing" policy that Xi Jinping has always insisted on. The epidemic broke out again, and the loopholes in the epidemic prevention of government agencies were fully exposed. In chaos, hospitals, funeral parlors, and crematoria across the country are overwhelmed with dead bodies.
During the Christmas season, Li Chengpeng, a well-known current commentator in mainland China, posted on Twitter, “Three years ago on Christmas Day, you would never have imagined that Wuhan would be in a catastrophe within a few days, and the crematorium would pile up with corpses.
You can't even imagine that on Christmas three years later, even the crematoriums in the capital Beijing were burning corpses all night, and the ground was full of unprocessible remains. ..."
It is worth noting that Western society has basically passed the crisis of the pandemic but the CCP has not prevented the epidemic from zero-covid to loosening, and the recent large number of deaths include many retired senior CCP officials, party members, and many years standing for the CCP Celebrities, experts, etc. in the literary and artistic circles and academia.
News (9)
Corpses strewn all over the floor in Shanghai hospital
Editor : Zheng Gusheng / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2022/12/27/a103608032.html / Image : The picture shows on 23 December 2022, the entrance of the emergency room of Shanghai Huashan Hospital. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)
The epidemic broke out in China, the number of deaths increased sharply, and the funeral system collapsed. Shanghai has also fallen into the "Beijing mode" at present. The hospital morgue is full of corpses, and there are still a large number of corpses that cannot be transported to the mortuary home for many days, and some for as long as a week.
On 26 December 2022, a video was uploaded on the Internet, showing a room full of corpses wrapped in blue bags, another corpse was transported to the door, and there was almost no place to put it in the room. There is a medical staff in white behind the door, and there are rows of freezers on one side of the room, which is suspected to be a hospital mortuary.
Netizens who shared the video said it was just filmed by my father at a hospital in Shanghai. Some netizens left a message saying that they seemed to see "the scene in Wuhan three years ago".
On the 27th, Ms. Fang, a Shanghai businessman, told Radio Free Asia that the local crematorium had no time to dispose of the corpses, but the most terrifying thing was not just the dead, but the fact that a large number of corpses could only be left at home for several days. It is available all over the country, and now it has also appeared in Shanghai.
Ms. Fang said that the body of one of her friends' cousins was kept at home. He was born in 1975 and died at home, but he could not be sent away. Because appointments for cremation now require lottery, many people go to the crematorium at 4.30 am to line up for lottery. The family of the deceased called the crematorium, who said the slot allocation had been suspended for two days. The body has been at home for three days now.
She said: "I was terrified to death. (Shanghai) a large number of corpses were left at home for four, five, and seven days."
At present, crematoriums in Shanghai are experiencing a shortage of funeral personnel. Among them, Binhai Ancient Garden, a cemetery in Fengxian District, Shanghai, openly recruited corpse pickers, corpse picker escorts, and WeChat corpse picker platform staff on the 26th.
Except for Shanghai, funeral parlors in many places across the country are overloaded, including many cities in Hebei, Henan, Anhui, Tianjin, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shandong, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangsu and other provinces and cities.
News (10)
When the epidemic broke out again, the CCP opened the country, and the public's worries continued
Reporters : Li Mei and Lin Mingdi / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2022/12/27/a103608068.html
Epidemics are raging across China, and the CCP has chosen to re-open mainland China. From 8 January 2023, no nucleic acid testing and centralized quarantine will be required for entry, and at the same time, outbound travel for Chinese citizens will resume. The number of searches for visas to go abroad has increased by 10 times. However, the outside world is worried that the CCP’s continued cover-up of the epidemic may bring hidden dangers to the international community.
Over the past three years, the CCP has continued to strictly control the epidemic, and now it has suddenly opened the door to the country, and some mainland people can't wait to go abroad.
Gan, a citizen of Beijing: "I think that many people's travel plans, even business trip plans, will be put on hold because of such a plan."
After the news of the re-opening of the country was announced, data from the Chinese travel platform Ctrip in the early morning of 27 December showed that the number of searches for visas abroad increased by 10 times in an instant, and the main destinations were Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, the United States and the United Kingdom.
There is also data showing that within 15 minutes after the news was released, the search volume for international flights soared by 7 times.
Over the past three years, the CCP’s extremely strict control of the epidemic has not only disrupted people’s lives, but also seriously hindered economic development, causing many people to lose their jobs, and restaurants, shops, and factories to close down.
Lu Haoming, a Beijing resident: "The damage to the economy is relatively large."
However, now it has suddenly turned. After the control was relaxed, a new wave of epidemics broke out, and all aspects were insufficiently prepared. The number of infections and deaths continued to soar, making the public anxious.
Lu Haoming, a Beijing resident: "The hospital is full of people, and the emergency room is full and no one cares about it. Although the fatality rate is not as serious as it was at the beginning, the first wave of shock is still quite powerful after all."
Beijing citizen: "Then I let go of it all at once, without any preparation. Actually, I am still alone now. I was infected in the first wave in Beijing at the time, and the medicine was fine, but our family was infected one after another. The elderly are actually full of worries, especially the children, right?"
Many people are worried that if the CCP ends epidemic prevention measures hastily, it may bring about greater hidden dangers.
News (11) to (19) / Reporter : Tang Di / Editor: Lin Qing / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2022/12/27/a103607980.html
News (11)
Under the tsunami of the epidemic, the CCP opens up outbound travel, Japan, Italy and other countries set up entry restrictions
Image : On 15 March 2022, an ordinary scene at the entrance and exit of Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. (HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
After a new wave of the epidemic broke out in the CCP and caused serious deaths, the CCP officials instead announced that they will open outbound travel from January 8 next year. After the relevant news was announced, the number of international air ticket bookings on the Chinese Internet rapidly increased by five times, with Tokyo, Seoul and Bangkok being popular destinations. Worried about the spread of the epidemic in China to its own country, Japan subsequently announced restrictions on entry from China.
On 26 December 2022, local time, the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council of the Communist Party of China issued the "Notice on Printing and Distributing the Overall Plan for the Implementation of "Class B and B Management" for Novel Coronavirus Infections", announcing that starting from January 8, 2023, the novel coronavirus infection implement "Class B and B management". Under this premise, China will "gradually resume waterway and land port passenger entry and exit", no longer adopt quarantine and infectious disease management measures for entry personnel and goods, and at the same time "orderly resume Chinese citizens' outbound travel".
News (12)
Spikes on Chinese international ticket bookings and flight searches on Tokyo, Seoul and Bangkok
Less than an hour after the above-mentioned news was officially released, the number of bookings on China's international air ticket online booking platform increased sharply. The number of searches for international air tickets and visas on multiple online platforms also doubled and skyrocketed simultaneously.
According to the data released by the Chinese travel search engine Qunar, after the CCP officially released the notice that the entry and exit restrictions will be relaxed, in less than an hour, the number of international air ticket bookings increased by 5 times, and the search for international air tickets was instantaneous. Volume increased 7 times.
The search volume of international air tickets for "travel on the same journey" has skyrocketed by 8.5 times, and the search volume of visas has increased by 10 times in an instant. On the other hand, the search volume of popular overseas destinations of Ctrip has increased by 10 times, and the search volume of its outbound (including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau) air tickets has reached the peak in three years.
This surge in searches continued until the morning of the 27th local time, and the departure time of inquiries was concentrated from mid-January to early February. The popular destinations for Chinese outbound travel are Tokyo, Seoul, and Bangkok.
As if adding fuel to the flames, the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China then issued a "Notice on Interim Measures for the Exchange of Chinese and Foreign Personnel" on the 27th, claiming that in terms of international passenger flights, it will "increase the number of flights in stages and simplify the handling process of inbound flights at airports, improving the efficiency of airport operations" and so on.
News (13)
Japan carries out virus screening on Chinese travellers to prevent rapid flow of covid into the country and restricts flights from CCP China
On the same day (27 December), the Japanese government announced that it will strengthen the management of China's entry into Japan. It is planned to take emergency border control measures from 00:00 on December 30. People entering Japan from China must undergo virus screening. If the test result is positive, they must be quarantined for 7 days. The Japanese government's move is considered to prevent the rapidly expanding epidemic in China from spreading to Japan, and even to prevent possible dangerous virus variants from spreading from China to Japan.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the targets of the new measures include people who want to enter Japan from China, and those who have a history of traveling in China within 7 days and want to enter Japan. In addition, more flights to and from China in the future will be restricted.
The current border control measures of the Japanese government are that those who hold a 3-dose COVID-19 vaccination certificate, or a negative PCR certificate within 72 hours before departure to Japan, can be exempted from virus screening upon entry.
Japanese Prime Minister Yufumi Kishida said in an interview with the media at the prime minister’s official residence that measures such as virus screening at the time of entry are taken to prevent the rapid flow of COVID-19 into Japan, and will “consider as much as possible not to hinder international interpersonal exchanges.”
News (14)
Taiwanese netizens: CCP is releasing human flesh bombs, appeals to all countries to close customs to prevent infection
Not only the Japanese are worried about being affected by the covid epidemic in China, but the Taiwanese also have the same concern. Some angry Taiwanese netizens even imitated the rhetoric of the CCP’s wumaos and described the CCP’s move as dropping a “human bomb” on other countries and regions. ", or "thousands of poisoning", urgently appealed to "all countries should immediately close customs to prevent infection".
Some Taiwanese netizens posted that "the CCP has started to release human flesh bombs again"; some netizens wrote, "It's harmful, the epidemic situation in China is unknown, there is no exact data...it will spread everywhere like Wuhan before"; some netizens reprimanded, "At this time, you can leave the country casually, a typical Chinese mentality: I'm not good and you can't live comfortably."
News (15)
Europe and the U.S. are strengthening virus screening on Chinese tourists
With the lessons learned from the spread of the Wuhan virus to the world when the CCP authorities let it go, some of China’s neighboring countries, as well as some countries in Europe and the United States, have recently introduced measures to strengthen virus screening for Chinese tourists in advance before Japan strengthened inbound COVID-19 testing.
News (16)
South Korea lists CCP China among the "quarantine inspection key countries" from 16 January 2023
The Korea Disease Control Agency announced on the 21st of this month that China will be included in the list of more than 10 "quarantine inspection key countries" starting from the 16th, and the entry quarantine at Incheon Airport will target "those with high infection risk and need centralized management" , Increase the intensity of entry screening.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India has also recently announced that international passengers from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand and South Korea must show negative nucleic acid certificates, and those who develop symptoms or test positive for nucleic acid upon arrival in India must be quarantined.
News (17)
Nucleic acid testing on Chinese travellers in Italy until 30 January 2023
The website of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation announced on 24 December 2022 that in response to the current situation of the large-scale epidemic in China, Milan Malpensa Airport will conduct nucleic acid testing for all incoming passengers from China from until 30 January 2023.
Chinese netizens are also quite emotional about this: "After 3 years of tossing around, the country has just opened up like this"; "Just pretend that the covid does not exist anymore."
News (18)
Experts: CCP is promoting overseas travels to spread possible new mutant virus
In an interview with The Epoch Times on 27 December, the financial self-media person "Caijing Cold Eyes" said that it is very irresponsible for the CCP authorities to re-open the country and let everyone go out to travel when the epidemic tsunami occurs in the country, because the large-scale spread of the epidemic may produce a new mutant virus, which scourges the world.
Lin Xiaoxu, a former virology expert at the Walter Reed Army Research Institute in the United States, also told The Epoch Times that the CCP’s re-opening up of the country at this time is actually implementing its so-called "response to covid" strategy and promoting it from home to abroad. Just like when the epidemic broke out in Wuhan, the infected people were allowed to travel around the world, dragging other countries into the water.
News (19)
Extremely irresponsible of CCP to let people from epidemic areas go overseas when variant virus information and compound infections are unclear
Lin Xiaoxu pointed out that China's information is not transparent, and the international community still does not know how many different variant viruses there are in China, and whether there are other compound infections. Under such circumstances, it is extremely irresponsible for the CCP to release people from the epidemic area abroad, or it has a very insidious purpose. "We should talk about naked malice, and it depends on how the international community responds."
News (20)
Worried about the invasion of mutant strains Huang Limin: Respond to comprehensive virus sequencing of confirmed cases entering China
Reporter : Lin Huiqin / https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/breakingnews/4167075 / Image : Huang Limin, chief physician of the Department of Infectious Diseases, National Taiwan University Children's Hospital. (file photo)
The epidemic in China is raging, but the official announced that "novel coronavirus pneumonia" will be renamed "novel coronavirus infection", and the prevention and control measures against novel coronavirus infection will be lifted on 8 January 2023, frightening the outside world. Japan will strengthen the screening of Chinese immigrants from 30 December 2022. Domestic experts suggest that the Republic of China (Taiwan) can maintain the current policy, but it should comprehensively sequence the virus for the confirmed cases of Chinese entry, so as to grasp the changes of mutant strains early and respond.
The Central Epidemic Command Center held a meeting yesterday to discuss whether to upgrade the border policy. Most of the participants preferred to maintain the status quo. Commander Wang Bisheng pointed out that it is expected to discuss further decisions with the core staff in the next one or two days.
In response to Japan’s upgrade of its border policy for Chinese immigrants, Zhuang Renxiang, spokesman of the command center, explained that Japan will do this mainly because it is worried about the entry of a large number of Chinese tourists, because it originally only depends on whether they have received 3 doses of vaccines. If they have received vaccines, they do not need to provide. If you do not have a negative certificate, provide a negative nucleic acid test certificate. As for Taiwan, there is no vaccination record when entering the country, but all inbound passengers will be provided with 4 doses of rapid antigen screening, which will be screened on the day of entry or the next day, and the rapid screening will be negative every 2 days before going out. If the test is covi-positive, 5+N home care is required. Taiwan has not yet been opened to Chinese tourists. Those who only hold a residence permit and Taiwanese businessmen will enter from China. It is expected that there will be no tourists flocking, so the current measures will be maintained.
Huang Limin, chief physician of the Department of Infectious Diseases, National Taiwan University Children's Hospital, pointed out that the impact of the Chinese epidemic on Taiwan must depend on how many Taiwanese businessmen come back, the speed of policy relaxation, and the proportion of confirmed immigrants. It is also an option to tighten up a little bit, but at present there are few severe cases in the country, and the number of people entering the country is not large. If you want to target immigrants from specific countries and implement entry screening, it may cause confusion in the flow of movement. The current practice is fine, not anymore. However, he also mentioned that it is necessary to strengthen publicity and implementation of rapid screening measures for people entering the country and their families, and those who are covi-positive will not go out, and they will be adjusted according to the epidemic situation assessment every week.
Huang Limin believes that the more worrying thing is to grasp the mutant strains. Now the proportion of virus sequencing for confirmed cases has not reached 10%, which will be problematic if the proportion is quite low. It is recommended to increase it, especially for the virus sequencing of confirmed cases imported from China. Looking at the changes in virus strains will help in epidemic prevention.
Huang Limin estimated that the epidemic in Taiwan may reach its peak at the end of January. Due to factors such as the weather, the Spring Festival, the lax attitude of the people to prevent the epidemic, and the increase in the number of people returning to Taiwan from abroad, it is estimated that the peak may exceed 30,000, 40,000, or even 50,000 cases in a single day.
News (21)
China will fully lift the ban from 8 January 2023, and the Political Council will temporarily hold an expanded epidemic prevention meeting to prepare for it
Reporter: Zhong Lihua / https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/politics/breakingnews/4167731 / Image : From January 8 next year, China will no longer implement isolation measures for infected persons, and will also cancel nucleic acid testing and isolation measures after entry. Premier Su Zhenchang temporarily held an expanded epidemic prevention meeting this morning (28th) in response. (Provided by the Executive Yuan)
CCP China will no longer implement isolation measures for infected persons from 8 January 2023, and will also cancel nucleic acid testing and isolation measures after entry. Premier Su Zhenchang held a temporary meeting itn response to expanding epidemic prevention this morning (28 December) Meeting response. He said that it is estimated that 30,000 people will still enter Taiwan from CCP China during the Spring Festival. He asked Wang Bisheng, the commander of the epidemic center, to cooperate with relevant ministries to check the relevant medical capacity and plan hardware equipment at the airport.
Luo Bingcheng, spokesperson of the Executive Yuan, reported that several countries have strengthened the inspection of people entering China. The command center stated in the meeting that the number of confirmed cases this week has increased by 7,000 cases for two consecutive days compared with last week. Although no tourists have entered the country yet, it is still recommended to conduct inspections for Chinese inbound tourists in the near future, as a necessary measure to observe the epidemic situation in China and prevent the rapid increase of the local epidemic situation.
The command center pointed out that the domestic epidemic situation in China is severe, and the epidemic situation in various places continues to rise. The hot spots are mainly in major cities but as the flow of people returning home before and after the Spring Festival increases, the epidemic may spread from cities to rural areas, the overall epidemic may last for more than 3 months.
In addition, starting from 8 January 2023, China will no longer implement isolation measures for those infected with the epidemic, and will also cancel nucleic acid testing and isolation measures after entry. Although Taiwan currently does not allow Chinese tourists to enter the country, it should still pay close attention to the development of related epidemics and take appropriate measures and adopt active measures to strengthen and maintain border management.
Su Kui said that Taiwan does not currently allow Chinese tourists to enter the Republic of China, but it is estimated that 30,000 people will still enter the country from China during the Spring Festival. The whole world has taken corresponding measures to protect the rights and interests of Chinese people and maintain the health of Chinese people. Wang Bisheng is requested to consider the responses of various countries and the epidemic prevention measures adopted by Taiwan. Today, we will cooperate with relevant ministries to take stock of the relevant medical capacity and plan hardware equipment at the airport, including the implementation of the "Spring Festival Traffic for People in the Kinmen/Matsu Area" that will be implemented on 7 January 2023. Whether the implementation measures of the project should be adjusted accordingly should also be considered. Relevant measures should also be planned, and the implementation schedule should be explained to the outside world, and relevant guidance and publicity should be done.
News (22)
China rushes to downgrade "novel coronavirus infection" Wang Bisheng: the fastest evaluation of "downgrade" after the Lunar New Year
Reporter : Wu Liangyi / https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/breakingnews/4166898 / Image : Wang Bisheng, commander of the Central Epidemic Command Center, pointed out that Taiwan will follow its own steps and discuss whether there is a chance to change the definition of notification or "downgrade" after the Lunar New Year at the earliest. (Provided by Command Center)
The Wuhan pneumonia (covid, COVID-19) epidemic broke out in China. Quarantine infectious disease management; Wang Bisheng, commander of our Central Epidemic Command Center, pointed out that Taiwan will follow its own steps and discuss after the Lunar New Year at the earliest to see if there is a chance to change the definition of notification or "downgrade".
Wuhan pneumonia is still the fifth category of notifiable infectious disease in the Republic of China but many scholars and experts believe that it should be reduced to the fourth category. Only severe cases need to be notified, and general diagnosis is not required, just like influenza. Wang Bisheng attended the press conference of the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Integrated Outpatient Service of the Tri-Service General Hospital on 28 December. In an interview after the meeting, he said that Taiwan has more considerations for "downgrading", including the removal of emergency public health incidents from the world or major countries such as the United States and Japan, and whether the domestic situation is approaching flu-like, "We will still follow our own steps and will not follow China's steps."
Wang Bisheng said that the issue of downgrading and notifying definitions "has been discussed for a very long time", and relevant work will be done at an appropriate time. Will the timing be until June 2023? Wang Bisheng said: "It won't be that long. It depends on the domestic epidemic situation and whether there is a chance to change the definition of notification and downgrade after the Lunar New Year but it also depends on the world trend."
As for China changing to "novel coronavirus infection", Wang Bisheng said that no matter how the name is changed, it is still novel coronavirus pneumonia and does not affect its essence. The whole world has already had a lot of experience in fighting this disease. We predict the epidemic wave in CCP China will continue for up to 3 months but on China's control measures, I think there is a set of reasons for it, and I will observe the follow-up actual practice."
News (23)
Kishida: Compulsory quarantine for Chinese inbound passengers from 30 December 2022, covi-positive quarantine for 7 days
Despite the outbreak of the epidemic,China is scheduled to lift the entry and exit travel restrictions next month. Since a large number of tourists are expected to go abroad during the Spring Festival, Japan is facing a big enemy. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida today ordered that all travelers from China Quarantine measures have been strengthened for those who enter the country. In addition to having a certificate of 3 doses of vaccination or a negative PCR test within 72 hours, they will also be subject to compulsory quarantine upon entry. If they are covi-positive, they will be quarantined for 7 days.
China has abandoned the zero-covid policy. According to foreign media reports, more than 250 million people have been infected since December. However, China has announced that it will downgrade the epidemic prevention policy from 8 January 2023. "Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia" has been renamed "Novel Coronavirus Infection", cancel the entry isolation measures and resume inbound and outbound tourism.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced to the media on 27 December 2022 that temporary special measures will be implemented for immigrants from China starting from 12 am of 30 December after negotiating with the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Kato Katsunobu at the official residence.
At present, as long as you show proof of vaccination 3 times, or a negative PCR certificate 72 hours before entry, you can enter Japan. However, after the collapse of China's epidemic prevention, the infection has spread rapidly. Therefore, quarantine at the time of entry will be added to Chinese inbound passengers, including travel within 7 days Passengers with history will be forced to quarantine for 7 days if they test positive.
After Japan lifted its border controls in mid-October this year, more than 930,000 tourists entered the country in November, of which about 21,000 were Chinese tourists. , the number of tourists visiting Japan may increase significantly.
News (24)
If China does not disclose accurate information about the epidemic, it should restrict the entry of Chinese tourists before the Lunar New Year holidays
After the outbreak of the epidemic in China, Japanese social networks asked Kishida to control the entry of Chinese tourists. In particular, it is expected that a large number of tourists will enter the country during the Spring Festival. Many people worry that the nightmare of three years ago will return. Yuichiro Tamaki, representative of the National Democratic Party, also posted on Twitter that if China does not disclose accurate information about the epidemic, it should restrict the entry of Chinese tourists before the Spring Festival. The anti-epidemic measures cannot be allowed to return to the original point two years ago.
News (25)
U.S. adopts disguised control measure against possible new virus strains
The U.S. embassy in China has stopped issuing visas to Chinese tourists since the 15th of this month. Although it is due to the shortage of manpower due to the spread of the epidemic, there are also views that this is a disguised control measure adopted by the United States against possible mutant virus strains.
News (26)
The CCP downgraded the epidemic control to "Class B and B" and only notified once a month
Editor : Zheng Gusheng / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2022/12/27/a103607881.html / Image : On 22 December 2022, a crematorium in Beijing. (STF/AFP via Getty Images)
中共将疫情管控降级“乙类乙管” 一月只通报一次
When the national epidemic broke out and funeral parlours were full, the CCP continued to "lie down" and downgraded the epidemic control from "Class B and A" to "B and B", announcing that the epidemic notification was changed from once a day to once a month.
On 26 December, the National Health Commission issued an announcement to change the name of "novel coronavirus pneumonia" to "novel coronavirus infection". From 8 January 2023, relevant control measures for Class A infectious diseases will be lifted, and they will no longer be included in quarantine Infectious disease management.
On the same day, the Comprehensive Group of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council of the Communist Party of China issued the "Overall Plan for the Implementation of "Class B Control" for Novel Coronavirus Infection", announcing that starting from January 8, 2023, "Novel Coronavirus Infection" will be replaced by "Class B" "A control" is adjusted to "Class B and B control", no longer implements isolation measures, no longer determines close contacts, no longer demarcates high and low risk areas, no longer adopts quarantine infectious disease management measures for entry personnel and goods, and testing strategies It was also adjusted to "willing to do all the inspections", and only the infected were classified and treated.
The plan also stated that the frequency and content of epidemic information releases will be adjusted.
At the press conference of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council on 27 December, Yin Wenwu, chief physician of the Communication and Prevention Department of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, announced that the frequency of epidemic notifications will be dynamically adjusted according to the situation, and finally return to the monthly announcement of Class B infectious diseases.
The official website of the National Health Commission of the Communist Party of China announced on the 25th that it would no longer publish daily epidemic information, and that its subordinate Center for Disease Control and Prevention would release it instead.
The CCP’s official announcement above is equivalent to completely abandoning “dynamic clearing”.
In the past few days, many Chinese netizens have been questioning the reason for the countless humanitarian tragedies caused by the three-year "clearance" and criticizing the authorities for not giving any explanation, but suddenly turning their heads and "laying flat". In addition, the CCP "loosened" overnight without any preparation, causing a major outbreak of the epidemic, lack of medical care and medicine among the people, and the collapse of the funeral system in many places, which once again aroused the anger of netizens.
News (27)
Cause Analysis of the intensive deaths of the CCP’s Privileged Class
Editor : Li Yun / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2022/12/27/a103607940.html
According to incomplete statistics, since December 2022, at least 50 CCP officials and 15 academicians have died. Why do these people who enjoy special medical treatment die intensively? Let's see the analysis of experts.
Li Ziliu, a vice-ministerial senior official of the Communist Party of China and former Guangzhou mayor, died of illness on 25 December. When he was in charge of Guangzhou, he helped the CCP promote Mandarin and was awarded the "Popularization Medal". He was officially described as a "proven fighter for communism".
According to incomplete statistics, since December, at least 50 CCP officials have died of illness, including: Liu Ji, the first batch of inspectors from the State Council of the CCP, Zhu Zhihong, the former chairman of the Jiangxi Provincial Political Consultative Conference, and Ju Kai, the former secretary of the CCP general Su Yu.
As of the 25th, at least 15 academicians died in December, including Wang Zhongqi, a well-known expert in turbomachinery aerodynamics, Zhang Jinzhe, former vice president of Beijing Children's Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, Zhang Youshang, a biochemist and molecular biologist, and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, science expert Ma Jianzhang et al.
Netease issued an article stating that 45 professors and faculty members of China's highest institution of learning have passed away in the past month or so. Since the beginning of this year, as many as 101 teachers from Peking University have died.
Beijing has become the hardest-hit area of this ferocious epidemic. Most of the dead are members of the Communist Party of China and people who worked for and supported the Communist Party of China, including 15 academicians and professors from Tsinghua University and Peking University.
Tang Hao, a commentator on international affairs in the United States: "Of course it doesn't mean that non-CCP members will not be infected, that's not the case. But there is indeed a strange phenomenon, that is, a large number of CCP officials and members have fallen under the hands of the virus, as if the virus I especially love the 'sticky' Communist Party."
Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, published an article warning at the beginning of the epidemic in March 2020, "Currently, a plague like the covid (Wuhan pneumonia) came with a purpose and a goal. It is to eliminate the evil party members, People who are walking with the evil CCP. If you don’t believe me, take a look, the countries that are currently suffering the most are all walking close to the evil party, and so are the people.”
Tang Hao: "When the epidemic first broke out in 2020, the virus spread overseas, and the countries with the worst epidemics at that time were all countries that were particularly close to the CCP, such as Italy, Iran, Spain, and Germany. Wait. But later, because the virus spread so badly, almost all countries fell. This time, the target of the virus seems to be shifted from overseas pro-communist countries to the CCP in Beijing.”
Yokogawa, a political commentator in the United States: "Because Beijing is a ruling center of the CCP, it has a lot of staff, or the backbone of the CCP system. These people have been doing bad things for so many years. When a person resists disease, he sacrifices the lives of others to prolong his life for a long time."
The 301 Hospital of the General Hospital of the Communist Party of China in Beijing once declared that it would extend the life of the leaders of the Communist Party of China to 150 years old.
Yokogawa, a political commentator in the United States: "Senior CCP officials or people from interest groups within the system have a particularly long lifespan. To a large extent, they rely on the replacement of organs from young people. Because many deaths of the elderly are due to organ failure. He By replacing the organs of young people, he can prolong his life. But he can't stand the toss. The virus doesn't recognize this, so once they get the virus, they can't do it. "
On 19 December, Radio Free Asia quoted a senior official in Beijing's political and legal system to disclose that during the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, there were outbreaks of epidemics in major hospitals in Beijing but the authorities blocked the news, resulting in the death of many senior officials.
Yokogawa: "Why did these people die because of concealing the epidemic? Later, I thought about it carefully. It is that these people enjoy too much medical resources. They have been living in hospitals for a long time, just like nursing homes. Give them some Special treatment, so these privileges that they enjoyed, later became the cause of their death."
Mr. Li Hongzhi warned in the article "Rationality": "The plague came with a purpose and a goal. It came to weed out the members of the evil party and those who walked with the evil CCP." He also warned the world to "stay away from the evil CCP." Leave the Party. Do not stand up for the wicked Party."
News (28)
U.S. experts: China's rapid outbreak leads to unnecessary deaths
Reporter : Wang Xiang / Editor : Ye Ziwei / https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/12/27/n13892430.htm / Image : An ambulance transports a patient infected with COVID-19 to the fever clinic of a hospital in Beijing, China, December 21, 2022. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
Huang Yanzhong, a senior researcher for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, an American think tank, recently said in an interview with the Chinese mainland website "Medical Circle" that the Chinese Communist Party's "rapid peak" "It will cause unnecessary severe illness and death.
He reminded that it is worth noting the saying of "reaching the peak quickly", that is, it is hoped that the more people infected, the better, and the sooner the peak is better, the better. Trying to have 80% to 90% of people infected around the Chinese New Year is equivalent to the national epidemic. Once vaccinated, the resumption of work and production can be guaranteed in spring.
"This kind of thinking runs counter to the idea of suppressing the peak value, and there are great risks." Huang Yanzhong said.
He said that "rapidly reaching the peak" is actually similar to Sweden's idea of "herd immunity", but Sweden's approach has been proven to be unworkable.
"Under the 'peak fast' approach, the elderly are not adequately protected, causing unnecessary severe illness and death. As the virus spreads among unvaccinated populations, it may lead to the emergence of new strains ."He said.
The global health research expert also added that, unlike China, Sweden also emphasizes the protection of risk groups such as the elderly.
He believes that the outbreak of infection cannot be prevented. What can be done is to reduce the peak of infection to a level that the medical system can bear through triage measures and other short-term effective means. As long as multiple places do not reach the peak of infection at the same time, resources and manpower can be mobilized.
"It should be noted that the number of new infections announced so far does not involve the hospitalization rate, the occupancy rate of intensive care beds, etc. These are important indicators that reflect the actual infection situation." Huang Yanzhong said.
Hao Chen (transliteration), the founder of MegaEase, tweeted that the previous dynamic clearing was monitored by various big data means-he had done at least 100 nucleic acid tests a year, and once there was a covi-positive case, all kinds of large-scale flow adjustment and sealing are costly.
"Now that the epidemic is spreading, it is precisely when scientific research needs to understand the data and the spread of the situation. These data and research can allow us to better deal with it. Logically speaking, the current statistics are much less difficult and costly than the previous 'finding a needle in a haystack', but no more statistics..."
A Bloomberg study in early December predicted that if 1/4 of the Chinese population were infected within the first 6 months after the zero-clearing policy was released, 363 million people would be infected with covid in China, about 620,000 people would die, and 32,000 people would die every day admitted to the intensive care unit. The hypothesis for this study was that the rate of severe hospitalization was very high.
Huang Yanzhong said that the current spread of the covid virus in China may be the fastest in the world, which has never been experienced by other countries and regions. For example, 25% of the population in the United States was infected with Omicron in 6 months.
"There are predictions that Beijing is expected to reach the peak of infection in mid-January 2023. According to the current situation, it may have been realized." He said.
Sun Yang, deputy director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, briefed at an internal meeting on the 21st that from December 1 to 20, 250 million people were infected, and 37 million people were infected on the 20th alone. Among them, the infection rate in Beijing reached 50%.
Huang Yanzhong said that the rapid spread of Omicron in China has several factors. Including before the release, very few people had a history of past infection, and the vaccines vaccinated earlier were less effective in preventing Omicron infection. Most people have received 3 injections for more than half a year. This means that not only the population has not developed natural immunity, but the immunity developed by the vaccine is also weak.
He suggested that it is very important to emphasize the use of heterologous sequential vaccination as much as possible for the fourth injection.
"However, based on previous experience, it will take about four or five months to complete a round of vaccination. By then, this wave of epidemics will almost be over," he added.
News (29)
Strictly prevent mutant strains. Xue Ruiyuan: Comprehensive saliva PCR of Chinese inbound passengers
Reporter : Qiu Zhirou / https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/breakingnews/4168025
China announced the day before yesterday that it would loosen border controls after a strict lockdown, allowing citizens to travel abroad. However, the epidemic situation in the country is rapidly rising. Japan took the lead in announcing yesterday that it will upgrade the epidemic prevention control and comprehensive screening for passengers from China; On 28 December, the Republic of China's Minister of Health and Welfare, Xue Ruiyuan, revealed in a joint interview with the media at the Social Welfare Administration’s event that the country will conduct comprehensive saliva PCR testing at the airport for passengers entering the country from China, which is currently under planning.
Xue Ruiyuan said that the current plan is to do saliva PCR at the airport for passengers arriving from China, leave saliva and contact information for positive confirmed cases, and take samples from them for gene sequencing. PCR can be used for gene sequencing selectively. For new mutant strains Easier to grasp.
Xue also explained that the main consideration is that it may be difficult for China to do PCR now, regardless of the requirement to provide a negative PCR certificate 2 days ago. At present, a method similar to the Spring Festival plan will be adopted first, and the implementation date and detailed plan content will still be announced by the command center.
Xue Ruiyuan said that at present, Japan has clearly upgraded the epidemic prevention and control measures for inbound tourists from China, and other countries such as the United States and South Korea are also considering it. He emphasized that China has quickly unblocked and its borders are not controlled. On 8 January, the country’s nationals were allowed to travel abroad. Although there is not enough information about the epidemic situation in China, according to various signs, the epidemic situation should be quite serious, so it is necessary to do some preparation.
News (30)
The wave of Chinese going abroad "will not surge immediately"? Experts point out: So many people are unemployed, estimate the real peak time
Editor : Chu Tian / https://www.aboluowang.com/2022/1228/1847663.html
China's easing of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) rules for incoming international travelers has given hope for a quick recovery in the multibillion-dollar tourism business, but countries eager to bring Chinese travelers back may have to wait. hold on.
Reuters reported that the National Health Commission of China announced yesterday that measures such as nucleic acid testing and centralized isolation for all staff entering China will be canceled starting 8 January 2023. There are no official restrictions on Chinese travelers leaving the country, and the new rules make it easier for them to return home.
▲Experts believe that the number of overseas tourists in China will not surge all at once. (Photo/Central News Agency)
Before the outbreak of COVID-19, China used to be the world's largest outbound tourism market, with China's overseas tourism spending reaching US$127.5 billion in 2019.
Airlines are drawing up plans to expand their business, but ordinary people and travel agencies believe it will take time before a return to something like normalcy.
"It's great that they made such an announcement so I can seriously make plans," said the 43-year-old exporter in Beijing.
However he said that he might not go abroad again until the end of spring or summer next year, most likely to visit his sisters in the United States, and emphasized that he would definitely not go anywhere before the Lunar New Year holiday in late January 2023.
Many others were encouraged by the news that the restrictions on the epidemic were about to be eased, and began to plan.
According to data from Ctrip, a large Chinese travel website, the number of searches for popular overseas destinations increased by 10 times after the official announcement last night. "Qunar" (Qunar) said that 15 minutes after the news was released, the number of searches for international air tickets increased by 7 times. The most popular travel destinations on both platforms include Japan, Thailand and South Korea.
That said, an immediate surge in outbound travel is generally not expected.
The Chinese government has called for the avoidance of outbound travel since 2020. When it announced the opening of the country yesterday, it emphasized that it will resume outbound travel "gradually".
VariFlight, a flight tracking service, pointed out that flights to and from China are expected to rebound strongly before next year's "May 1st" Golden Week, and not before that, and said that flights to and from China during the epidemic were only 8% of the pre-epidemic levels.
Liu Simin of the Tourism Branch of the China Future Research Society, a Beijing-based research institute, pointed out that outbound tourism will not return to pre-epidemic levels before 2024. He said it is the current wave of COVID-19 infections sweeping China that is affecting travel plans for many.
Countries including Japan and India have announced that passengers from China must provide a negative COVID-19 test certificate when entering the country.
Travel expenses are another big issue.
Liu Simin said, "During the epidemic, so many people have lost their jobs or their income has been reduced. It will take some time for them to regain their confidence."
Oliver Wyman, an international management consulting company, released a study this month before China announced the relaxation of the epidemic prevention ban on travel.
Some airlines also started planning before the policy adjustment was announced yesterday. Korean Air said that the number of flights between South Korea and China will increase from 9 to 15 per week starting January 2023.
So far, China has not announced plans to resume tourist visas, except for residence, work, business, student and family visit visas.
International business travel is expected to be one of the fastest recovering activities.
Colm Rafferty, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said: "The recent announcement to prepare for the resumption of business travel is the most urgent priority for the American business community in China over the past two years.”
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