China has shared some info on its COVID-19 state of affairs, however there’s a want for extra knowledge from native areas, a senior World Health Organization official mentioned on Tuesday, including that it’s “not unreasonable” for nations to take precautionary measures.
According to info out there to the WHO, the “virus variants circulating in China have already been seen in Europe and elsewhere,” mentioned Hans Kluge, the WHO regional chief for Europe.
“We share the current view of the European Centre for Disease Control, (ECDC) that the ongoing surge in China is not anticipated to significantly impact the COVID-19 epidemiological situation in the WHO European region at this time,” he mentioned.
“But we cannot be complacent,” cautioned Kluge, who oversees a area that features 53 nations and extends from Greenland within the northwest to the Russian Far East.
He acknowledged that China has shared virus sequencing info, however pressured that the WHO wants “detailed and regular information,” particularly on native epidemiology and variants.
“It is not unreasonable for countries to take precautionary measures to protect their populations while we await more detailed information that is shared via publicly accessible databases,” mentioned Kluge.
He was referring to necessities imposed by a number of nations for individuals coming from China, together with unfavourable COVID-19 checks and proof of full vaccination.
“For those countries in our region introducing such precautionary travel measures at this time, we are calling for such to be rooted in science, proportionate and non-discriminatory,” he mentioned.
LESS SURVEILLANCE
Over the previous yr, many nations in Europe have considerably decreased their “surveillance capacity” for COVID-19, in response to Kluge.
In the primary 5 weeks of 2022, variant info on 1.2 million circumstances was submitted as a part of weekly surveillance knowledge to WHO and its associate, the ECDC, he mentioned.
However, this declined to about 90,000 circumstances within the final 5 weeks of 2023.
“We commend European countries that have maintained strong genomic surveillance – including Denmark, France, Germany, and the UK,” he mentioned.
“Indeed, recent data from some of these countries are starting to indicate the growing presence of the new XBB.1.5 recombinant virus that has already been spreading rapidly across the US,” he added.
Kluge mentioned well being authorities are choosing up XBB.1.5. variant circumstances within the area “in small but growing numbers.”
“After three long pandemic years-with many countries grappling with overstretched health systems, shortages in essential medicines, and an exhausted health workforce-we cannot afford more pressures on our health system,” he pressured.
