Coronavirus: China can’t reopen while Covid-19 mortality rate remains so high, expert says

‘While the pandemic is ongoing, China cannot open to the world completely,’ infectious disease specialist Zhang Wenhong says

‘Some diseases are controlled only many years after vaccines are available,’ China CDC’s chief epidemiologist says

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The time is not yet ripe for China to reopen its borders to the world, an expert says. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:30pm, 27 Sep 2020Updated: 10:47pm, 27 Sep 2020

China cannot completely reopen its borders while the global mortality rate from Covid-19 remains high and there is still the threat of a second wave, according to a leading authority on infectious diseases.

Sporadic outbreaks were possible anywhere at any time, and with the death rate at between 3 and 4 per cent in most countries, it would be unwise to remove travel restrictions, said Zhang Wenhong, director of the infectious disease department at Huashan Hospital in Shanghai.

“The reopening of the world depends on vaccines, which hopefully will be ready in one to two years,” he said at a forum in Shanghai on Saturday.

“While the pandemic is ongoing, China cannot open to the world completely.”

With the spread of the imported cases of Covid-19 largely under control, China’s foreign ministry said in a statement released on Wednesday that entry restrictions for foreigners would be eased “step by step” from Monday.