US urges citizens to avoid China travel amid Covid spike

The Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs updated its travel advisory for travelers going to the People's Republic of China amid a spike in Covid cases, urging US Citizens travelling to China to exercise increased caution in the PRC due to wrongful detentions.

Moneycontrol News

December 24, 2022 / 09:23 IST

A traveler in protective gear at a train station in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. China's broad budget deficit hit a record so far this year, showing how damaging the now abandoned Covid Zero policy and the ongoing housing slump have been to the economy and to the government's finances.

The US Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs' website reviewed the guidelines for US Citizens travelling to China and urged them to reconsider travel to that nation if possible.

The website's travel guidelines cited reasons such as the surge in COVID-19 cases, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, and COVID-19-related restrictions for avoiding travel. The new guidelines also mentioned that access to medical care, including treatment in hospitals and ambulance service, is likely to be delayed or limited in China.

The advisory said that travellers going to China will be tested for Covid 19 and made to quarantine at a government-designated location upon arrival.

Addressing the measures put in place to curb the spread of the virus from positive patients, the bureau said that travelers who test positive during this quarantine time may be transferred to a government-designated medical facility.

For travellers going to areas with confirmed COVID-19 cases, restrictions may include being confined at home or moved to a government-designated quarantine facility or hospital.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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