- Fergus Walsh
- Medical Affairs Editor
Rome airport authorities take strict measures in dealing with arrivals from China
There was some skepticism regarding what might happen when a country of 1.4 billion people decided to halt its strict policy once morest the Corona virus, which was known as “Zero Covid”.
Due to the poor level of vaccination and low immunity in China, the infection rate has increased, at a time when it is regarding to lift restrictions on its citizens’ travel abroad.
Therefore, some countries are concerned regarding the increase in the number of their infections, and have begun to impose some restrictions, such as testing for HIV infection, on those coming from China.
The increase in the number of cases in China was not due to a new strain, but mainly due to similar types of the Omicron strain.
The PF7 and BQ1 variants belong to the Omicron strain, and are more infectious than any other variant of the virus. The two mutants have been found in abundance outside China.
The Omicron strain has dominated the global outbreak for more than a year, but this does not preclude the possibility of a new, worrisome strain emerging in the future.
Perhaps the most prominent reason for imposing this type of health test on people coming from China is the lack of information coming from Beijing regarding infection. Of course, the higher the infection rate, the higher the probability of new mutations.
But these mutations can appear anywhere, as we have seen in Britain, Brazil, South Africa and India, so will new measures succeed in preventing a new mutation?
Some countries require those coming from China to submit a recent test proving that they are free of infection, as a condition for granting them a visa to enter their lands.
The United States said that this measure will “reduce the spread” of the virus, but no one says that these measures will prevent an increase in cases of infection in the territory of any country.
As for Italy, it imposed on those coming from China to take a “medical swab” test, and isolate those who show that the swab is infected with the virus for several days.
This point represents support for the researchers’ work, to know the type of expected mutations, but at the same time it will lead to increased pressure on airport workers.
The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, said that those coming from China, who tested positive, carried the Omicron strain, “which is the strain already present in the country.”
Italy wants to find a unified formula to deal with this matter in the European Union, but the European Health Agency says that “there is no justification for that.”
In Britain, there are many cases of infection, perhaps more than a million cases, every week, whether in the workplace or through social contact.
And a new statistic showed that one out of every 45 people in Britain had been infected this month.
However, the majority of Britons are protected from the serious health consequences of infection, due to the vaccinations they have received, and the recurrence of natural infection with the virus.
This means that although the Corona virus is still a source of danger, it is no longer as dangerous as it was in the past.
