#quarantines

#quarantines

China is posting the steepest drop in Covid deaths among more than 20 places hit hardest by omicron, reviving questions about its virus data and the true impact of the reopening wave as Beijing works to move on from the pandemic.After meticulously tracking cases for most of the pandemic, China abruptly abandoned its signature zero-tolerance policy at the end of 2022, halting mass testing, quarantines and lockdowns, and narrowing its definition of what constitutes a Covid death.

China has suspended visas for South Koreans to come to the country for tourism or business in apparent retaliation for Covid-19 testing requirements on Chinese travellers.brief notice posted online by the Chinese Embassy in Seoul said the ban would apply until South Korea lifted its "discriminatory measures on entrance by China" to the country.

Japan has now joined India in requiring travelers from China to show a negative coronavirus test on arrival.It comes after China announced the relaxation of COVID-19 rules for foreign visitors.Japan would require negative COVID-19 tests for travelers from China, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.His government would also reduce a planned increase in flights between Japan and China "just to be safe.''

China's recent decision to scrap quarantine for returning travelers is anticipated to revive the international tourism scene, though not immediately.On Monday, China said it would end quarantines for travelers from abroad on January 8. Currently, passengers arriving from abroad, including Chinese nationals, have to quarantine for five days at a hotel, followed by three days at home.

As he enters his new term as China's president and most powerful leader in decades, Xi Jinping is signaling that he is steeling for an era of superpower contestation, even as he seeks to revive a battered economy.There was never serious doubt that Mr. Xi, as dominant as any Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, would be endorsed for a third five-year term as state president at an annual meeting of the National People's Congress, the top legislature.

Facing a surge in COVID-19 cases, China is setting up more intensive care facilities and trying to strengthen hospitals as it rolls back anti-virus controls that confined millions of people to their homes, crushed economic growth and set off protests.President Xi Jinping's government is officially committed to stopping virus transmission, the last major country to try.

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said a nearly 90% drop in recent Covid-19 deaths globally compared with nine months ago provides "cause for optimism" but still urged vigilance against the pandemic as variants continue to crop up.irector-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that last week just over 9,400 deaths linked to coronavirus were reported to the WHO.

GENEVA - The World Health Organization chief on Wednesday said a nearly 90% drop in recent COVID-19 deaths globally compared to nine months ago provides "cause for optimism," but still urged vigilance against the pandemic as variants continue to crop up.Are you on Telegram?Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia's war in Ukraine.

A federal judge has put a hold on a new California law aimed at combating disinformation spread by doctors about COVID-19 and the masks and vaccines public health authorities urge to protect against it, which critics called a suppression of free speech and professional judgment.California physicians, some of whom practice in the Bay Area, sued over the law, AB 2098 by Assemblyman Evan Low, D-Cupertino, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it last fall, arguing it violates their free speech and due process rights.

China will drop its quarantine requirement for passengers arriving from outside the country starting on Jan. 8, the country's health authorities announced Monday.Currently, travelers from abroad must now sequester themselves at a hotel or other centralized facility for five days, then for three more days at home, according to the National Health Commission.

The decision by the NHC to scrap the daily virus count comes as COVID cases surge across multiple Chinese cities.China will no longer publish daily figures for COVID-19 cases and deaths, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Sunday, ending a practice that began in early 2020.Cities across China are struggling with surging virus cases, resulting in pharmacy shelves stripped bare and overflowing hospitals and crematoriums, after Beijing suddenly dismantled its zero-COVID regime earlier this month.

A record 37 million people were estimated to have been infected with COVID on Dec. 20.REUTERS
Nearly 37 million people may have contracted COVID-19 in China earlier this week, making the country's viral outbreak the world's largest.Minutes from an internal meeting of the National Health Commission (NHC) revealed that as many as 248 million people - nearly 18% of China's population - came down with the virus in the first 20 days of December, as a surge that began in Beijing is now spreading to rural regions, Bloomberg News reported.

Coronavirus is weakening and management protocols could be downgraded, an expert on China's state media has claimed, after unprecedented protests last week.Since January 2020, China has classified Covid-19 as a Category B infectious disease but has managed it under Category A protocols, which give local authorities the power to put patients and their close contacts into quarantine and lock down affected regions.

HONG KONG  China on Sunday reported two additional deaths from COVID-19 as some cities move cautiously to ease anti-pandemic restrictions following increasingly vocal public frustrations.The National Health Commission said one death was reported each in the provinces of Shandong and Sichuan.No information was given about the ages of the victims or whether they had been fully vaccinated.

A resident carries her groceries at a supermarket in Beijing, on Friday.Residents of China's capital were emptying supermarket shelves and overwhelming delivery apps as the city government ordered accelerated construction of COVID-19 quarantine centers and field hospitals.Ng Han Guan/AP BEIJING (AP)  Residents of China's capital were emptying supermarket shelves and overwhelming delivery apps Friday as the city government ordered accelerated construction of COVID-19 quarantine centers and field hospitals.