US curbs may fuel racism, experts say

The US government's requirement of negative COVID-19 tests from travelers from China "will likely have limited impact on transmission", US physicians, scientists and public health experts said in a joint statement on Thursday.

In addition, they said the policy "will not provide the necessary data to fully assess the increasing number of cases" around the world. And they pointed to the possibility that it could "unintentionally fuel anti-Asian bias and xenophobia".

The statement was made by the Infectious Diseases Society of America, which comprises more than 12,000 physicians, scientists and public health experts specializing in the field, and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, representing more than 2,000 physicians and other healthcare professionals around the world.

To improve surveillance and obtain more useful data, the administration of US President Joe Biden should consider expanding broader testing strategies that are not defined by a narrow geographical scope. However, testing alone is unlikely to prevent transmission of the virus in the US, it added.

On Thursday, the US began imposing mandatory COVID-19 tests on travelers from China. Passengers aged 2 and above will need a negative result from a test taken within 48 hours before departure from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong or Macao.

Many experts also find the restrictions unnecessary and illogical, according to a recent report from The Washington Post.

"It doesn't make sense to me," the newspaper quoted Jeffrey Shaman, a public health researcher at Columbia University, as saying. "Travel restrictions seem intended to stop the virus at the border, which makes no sense given that the virus is already everywhere."

'Completely misguided'

Kristian Andersen, an immunologist at Scripps Research, echoed that view, calling the fear of alleged new China-generated variants "completely misguided", the report said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Thursday that the COVID-19 situation in China is under control. China will continue to closely monitor possible mutations of the virus, release relevant information in a timely manner, and work with the international community to tackle the challenge.

She called on the global community to take science-based and proportionate response measures that don't target any specific country, avoid remarks and actions that politicize the epidemic, jointly safeguard normal people-to-people exchanges and work together for an early victory over the pandemic.

"China always believes that for all countries, COVID response measures need to be fact-based, science-based and proportionate," she said. "They should not be used for political manipulation, there should not be discriminatory measures, and measures should not affect normal travel and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation."