The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said some countries' Covid-19 entry restrictions targetting China lack scientific basis and are unreasonable.

Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular press briefing that Beijing is "firmly opposed to such practices" and will take corresponding measures accordingly.

Her comments came as state media described the Covid-19 pandemic on the mainland as under control. On Tuesday, the People's Daily cited mainland experts as saying the illness caused by the virus was relatively mild for most people.

"Severe and critical illnesses account for three percent to four percent of infected patients currently admitted to designated hospitals in Beijing," Tong Zhaohui, vice president of the Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, told the newspaper.

Kang Yan, head of West China Tianfu Hospital of Sichuan University, said that in the past three weeks, a total of 46 patients had been admitted to intensive care units, or about one percent of symptomatic infections.

These comments came ahead of an expected briefing by mainland scientists to the World Health Organization, which has urged mainland health officials to regularly share specific and real-time information on the Covid situation.

The United States, France, and others have said they will require Covid tests on travellers from China, while Belgium said it would test wastewater from planes for new Covid variants.

European Union health officials will meet on Wednesday on a coordinated response.

Beijing has rejected criticism of its Covid data and said any new mutations may be more infectious but less harmful.

Meanwhile, mainland officials are now readying for a virus wave to hit the country's rural interior, as millions of people prepare to travel to their hometowns for the week-long Lunar New Year public holiday later this month.

National Health Commission official Jiao Yahui admitted that dealing with the expected surge in rural areas would be an "enormous challenge".

"What we are most worried about is in the past three years nobody has returned home for Lunar New Year but they finally can this year," Jiao told broadcaster CCTV on Monday.

"As a result, there may be a retaliatory surge of urban residents into the countryside to visit their relatives, so we are even more worried about the rural epidemic."
(Reuters/AFP)
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Last updated: 2023-01-03 HKT 17:15