In one of the most populous Chinese provinces, almost nine out of ten residents are infected with the corona virus. And the next corona wave will probably not be long in coming. The ambassador in Berlin nevertheless calls the European test obligations discrimination.
In the course of the massive spread of Covid-19 in China, almost 90 percent of the residents in Henan, one of the country's most populous provinces, have been infected with the corona virus, according to a representative of the authorities. By Jan. 6, 89 percent of the central China province's population had been infected, said Henan Health Commission director Kan Quancheng.
With around 99.4 million inhabitants, Henan is the Chinese province with the third highest population. 89 percent of the population corresponds to around 88.5 million people. The peak of doctor visits for febrile illnesses in Henan was reached on December 19, Kan said. Since then, the number of infections has steadily decreased.
China's authorities are expecting a new wave of corona infections around the Chinese New Year on January 22nd. Because of the celebrations, millions of Chinese make their way, especially from the big cities to rural areas, to celebrate the New Year with their families. At the beginning of the massive wave of travel, the authorities already counted more than 34 million trips on Saturday.
After nationwide protests over the strict corona measures, the Chinese government abruptly abandoned its previous zero-Covid strategy in mid-December. Since Sunday, traveling to and from China has also been significantly easier again: there is no quarantine requirement for those entering the country, they only have to present a negative corona test that is no more than 48 hours old. Since the easing, however, the corona cases in the country have increased rapidly.
Abroad, including in Germany, however, there is growing fear of new virus variants that could be introduced by travelers from China. The federal government advises against unnecessary trips to China, and Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach, like other EU countries, made testing compulsory for travelers coming from China. In addition, there should be additional waste water controls for trips to China in order to quickly discover new dangerous coronavirus variants.
The Chinese ambassador in Berlin, Wu Ken, accused the EU states of discrimination because of the compulsory corona test for travelers from China. "Pointing the finger at others hasn't solved a single problem," Wu told Handelsblatt. A decision such as a corona test obligation must “be made on a scientific basis”. "It seems to me that there is also discrimination involved," Wu added. "We reject this." When objected that China itself requires travelers to have a negative corona test no more than 48 hours old, Wu replied that this measure was not aimed at specific countries.
