A huge corona wave is rushing through China. The EU is divided on how to deal with it. The most important questions and answers.
How is the situation in China at the moment?
In the massive wave of infections after the abrupt end of the strict zero-Covid policy almost a month ago, several hundred million Chinese have already been infected. In the metropolises of millions, the peak is said to have already been reached. However, there is no precise picture of the situation in the most populous country on earth because the authorities no longer publish figures. But there are now major concerns in the Chinese provinces. Because with the massive travel activity around the New Year celebrations on January 22nd, “dramatic case numbers” are also expected in rural areas. This is problematic because many older people live there and medical care is often inadequate.
Can we expect many travelers from China in the short term?
After almost three years of complete isolation, the country is opening up again to foreign countries, and air traffic, which has been severely reduced for a long time, is likely to be increasingly resumed. According to experts, there were around 2,500 to 3,000 international flights a day before the pandemic, but the number had fallen to 100 to 150 at times. However, it will take even longer before the level of 2019 is reached again.
Corona: EU recommends compulsory testing for travelers from China
Could the Chinese wave spill over to Europe?
The EU health authority ECDC does not currently expect that the increase in the number of cases in China will affect the epidemiological situation in the EU. The variants circulating in China also exist here, so they do not pose a particular challenge to the immune system of the citizens, it is said. In addition, EU citizens have, on average, comparatively good immunity from infections and vaccinations.
Video: Compulsory CoV testing for travelers from China
Which variants are currently circulating in China?
Richard Neher, head of the research group Evolution of Viruses and Bacteria at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel, comes to the conclusion in a recent report on variants that two variants dominate in China, BF.7 and BA.5.2, which also already occur in Europe. The other variants detected were similar to those circulating in the rest of the world. So far no strongly deviating mutations are known.
How great is the danger of a new, dangerous variant from China?
The situation in China – many infections in a short time in a population without much contact with Omikron – is “rather unfavorable” for the development of an immune escape variant, explains Neher. No general trend can be identified with regard to the severity of the disease. The virologist Isabella Eckerle also thinks it is not particularly likely that a variant will develop in China that escapes an immune system that has adapted to the virus. “Of course it’s possible that a new, more worrying variant will emerge, but it could also come from another part of the world where we get few sequences.”
What do experts say about tests for new variants from China?
For expert Neher, monitoring aircraft effluent or anonymous samples from travelers can be a building block of a variant monitoring strategy. But he also makes it clear: “Stopping a variant has never worked.”
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Source: Nachrichten
