China: Travel bubble unlikely as COVID-19 cases continue to rise
According to China’s health authority, imported cases may be the root cause of China’s increase in COVID-19 cases as the virus still poses a threat
According to Reuters, Li Bin, the Vice Minister of the National Health Commission, explained at a press conference that during winter, there may be an increase of cases in some areas in China as well as “pocket clusters.” Due to this risk Li Bin thinks that there is no time to relax in their work to prevent the virus from spreading.
The numbers in China are still fairly low with only 24 new cases reported on Nov 16 with most of the cases coming from travelers entering the country.
Yin Chengji, the deputy commissioner of the National Immigration Administration, declared that tourists from certain countries are still not allowed to enter China while Chinese citizens are also not allowed to travel abroad, if there need is not urgent.
At the same press conference, Bi Kexin, the General Administration of Customs said that China will continue to impose strong measures on “imported frozen food”, after undergoing “870,000 random checks”.
Chen Xu, an official member at the State Administration for Market Regulation also discussed that “It is demanding certification from suppliers, and market regulators should take tougher measures against untraceable frozen food.”
This has put the proposed plan for any travel bubble in jeopardy as the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Luo Zhaohui (pictured), declared that the plan is still on the cards but China must also be wary of their current situation.
On Nov. 22 Hong Kong and Singapore have agreed to open Asia’s first travel bubble, that may extend throughout Asia if cases remain low.
According to WHO’s COVID-19 dashboard, China currently has 92,452 confirmed cases while deaths have amounted to 4,749.
