China halts flights with UK
▶ Variant may force more people to get vaccinated
Taking into account the practices of other countries, China on Thursday announced the suspension of flights to and from the UK due to a new coronavirus strain, the Chinese foreign ministry announced.
“Considering the specific nature of the virus and its possible impact, in order to protect the health of Chinese and foreign personnel, China has suspended flights to and from the UK after a full assessment and taking into account the practices of other countries,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced during Thursday’s routine press conference.
A variation of the novel coronavirus was recently detected in the UK and the World Health Organization has been notified. Several countries have announced measures such as closing borders and banning flights from the UK.
Wang said that China will closely follow the situation and adjust relevant control measures according to the situation.
Experts said that China’s decision is reasonable in terms of preventing COVID- 19 importation, since cluster infections caused by cases from overseas have been reported now and then in multiple Chinese cities like Beijing and Chengdu, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province.
Based on such practices, the risk of new local infections caused by the variants found in the UK still exists, Lu Hongzhou, co- director of the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center at Fudan University, told the Global Times.
A Beijing- based expert on immunology told the Global Times on Thursday that the suspension meets the international practice being adopted in many countries and regions as the situation in the UK is worsening, and it poses greater infection risks.
However, as China has gained rich experience in epidemic control, a large- scale outbreak caused by an imported case will not occur, Lu noted.
Apart from the variant that the UK reported to the WHO on December 14, which is up to 70 percent more transmissible than earlier versions, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Wednesday that yet another variant has been detected in the country. Both of them are more infectious, he noted.
The nature of the new variants is not yet certain, experts said, calling for quick research.
“We can achieve herd immunity with a 70- percent vaccination rate. But if the virus’ infectivity increases, the infection rate may be higher and we may need more people to be vaccinated,” the Beijing expert said.
Due to pandemic prevention reasons, the Chinese Visa Application Service Center in London suspended operations from Tuesday.
“We can achieve herd immunity with a 70- percent vaccination rate. But if the virus’ infectivity increases, the infection rate may be higher and we may need more people to be vaccinated.”