US to require negative PCR from PRC travelers

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The United States will be requiring any traveler coming from China to provide the government with a negative Covid-19 test, alleging that Beijing was not sharing enough information about the latest surge in Covid cases in the country, health officials announced Wednesday.

All air passengers two years and older coming from China or whose trip originates from China must obtain a negative PCR test issued less than two days before their departure and give it to their airlines, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.

"CDC is announcing this step to slow the spread of Covid-19 in the United States during the surge in Covid-19 cases in the People's Republic of China given the lack of adequate and transparent epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data being reported from the PRC," it said in a statement.

"The recent rapid increase in Covid-19 transmission in China increases the potential for new variants emerging," a senior US health official claimed during a phone briefing.

However, the official explained that Beijing has only provided global databases with limited data about circulating variants in China, alleging that testing and reporting on new cases have been in decline.

"Based on this lack of available data, it's harder for US public health officials to identify new variants spreading to the United States," the official said.

The test will be required of all air passengers regardless of nationality and vaccination status. It also includes people traveling to the United States from China via third countries, as well as those traveling through the United States to other countries.

Additionally, US officials said they continued to offer assistance, including vaccines, to China to help it battle the recent surge.

China "indicated publicly that they appreciate the offer but that they don't need the support at this time. So we will continue to stand by our offer," a senior US health official said.

Despite Washington's claims, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Friday that China has sufficient medical supplies, and the situation is under control with regard to the epidemic, stressing that the status quo was within forecast as Beijing continues to share relevant information with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the international community.

The Chinese government has stuck to the concept of putting people and life first since the COVID-19 outbreak Mao said, highlighting that Beijing formulated epidemic prevention policies that are based on the nation's situation and in line with the interests of the majority of the people.

Giving the public some good news, Mao underlined that vaccination rates continue to increase, the treatment capacity continues to improve, the production capacity of medical supplies continues to expand, and overall supply is sufficient.

Currently, she revealed, more than 90% of the Chinese population had been fully vaccinated by early December, with more than 86.6% of people aged above 60 and 66.4% of those above 80 completing their vaccinations.

China, the spokesperson added, has been working with the rest of the world to respond in a more efficient manner to the challenges posed by the epidemic, as well as better protect people's lives, jointly push forward the steady recovery of the economy, and promote the building of a community of common health for mankind.

Western media has been exaggerating the situation in the country after China adjusted its epidemic control strategy with a sheer focus on preventing severe cases, claiming that Beijing has been facing a shortage of medical supplies and personnel.