World Health Organisation urges China to strengthen its Covid response as cases surge

It comes as UK government announces travel restrictions for passengers from China

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged Chinese officials to strengthen their response to rising Covid rates.

The organisation called on China to “strengthen viral sequencing, clinical management and impact assessment” as a loosening of restrictions has spared new waves of the virus.

WHO also invited Chinese scientists to engage “more closely” in WHO-led Covid expert networks, including the Covid-19 clinical management network.

It comes after the UK government announced new travel restrictions on people coming from China due to the increasing rates of infections in the country.

Passengers arriving in England from mainland China, not including Hong Kong, from 5 January will need to take a Covid test no more than two days before departure and show the negative result to airline staff at check-in.

All flights from mainland China currently arrive at London Heathrow, but the intention is to make the new rules UK-wide.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will also start testing a sample of passengers arriving from China from 8 January.

Health secretary Steve Barclay said the government was taking a “balanced and precautionary approach”, saying the measures as “temporary” while officials assess the latest Covid data.

The move follows similar measures by several countries, including the US, India, Italy, South Korea and Taiwan, who require visitors from China to be tested for the virus.

China cases have increased dramatically since the country relaxed its Covid isolation rules (AP)

Spain and France also now require negative tests prior to departure for passengers travelling from China.

Around 9,000 people are estimated to be dying in China every day from Covid-19, a UK-based health data firm assessed, almost double the estimates from a week ago as most parts of the country remain gripped by outbreaks.

Covid travel restrictions have returned as the UK government announced new travel requirements for passengers from China (AP)

China’s Covid infections are set to hit their first peak on 13 January with 3.7 million cases expected in a day, said the UK’s Airfinity.

Deaths due to the virus outbreak are expected to peak at around 25,000 per day with cumulative deaths reaching 584,000 since December, the health data firm said.