The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has determined Thursday that testing travelers from China for COVID-19 is an «unfounded» step due to high levels of immunity in the territory of the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA).
«Given the higher population immunity in the EU/EEA, as well as the previous emergence and subsequent replacement of variants currently circulating in China with other omicron sub-lineages in the EU/EEA, an increase in cases in China is not expected to affect the epidemiological situation of COVID-19 in the EU/EEA,» it said in a statement.
He also specified that possible imported infections are «quite low» compared to the number of infections occurring daily in the EU/EEA Member States. He also stressed that the European healthcare systems are capable of managing infections caused by the virus.
«The ECDC is closely following the situation in China through epidemiological intelligence and is in regular contact with the Chinese health authorities and the main centers for control and prevention worldwide, as well as with the WHO,» he concluded.
Xi Jinping’s administration announced Monday that from January 8 it will reopen its borders and eliminate the need for quarantine in a new step in the relaxation of restrictions, after which countries such as the United States and Italy announced measures for passengers from China.
China was the country where COVID-19 was first detected and has so far officially confirmed 4.4 million cases and 16,764 deaths. In the last 28 days, 815,995 cases and 787 deaths related to the disease have been reported.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
