The huge rise in the number of coronavirus infections in China has caused a split in various countries around the world on the measures necessary to prevent a new global wave of the pandemic. The World Health Organization has called on Beijing to share real-time data so that other countries can respond effectively.

The United States, along with Japan and several European countries, announced the imposition of controls on travelers arriving from China, under precautionary measures that the head of the World Health Organization considered "understandable", given the lack of information from Beijing after the lifting of restrictions on the fight against the coronavirus.

However, China's health authorities stressed that they have always published the data "out of concern for openness and transparency," according to statements quoted by the Xinhua news agency.

A delegation from the World Health Organization met with Chinese officials to discuss the huge rise in the number of covid-19 infections in their country, calling on them to share real-time data so that other countries can respond effectively.

"A high-level meeting was held on December 30 between WHO and China on the current increase in covid-19 cases, with the aim of obtaining more information on the situation and providing expertise and support from who,"the UN health agency said in a statement.

The statement noted that "who has again requested the regular sharing of specific data on the epidemiological situation, in real time, including more data on the genetic sequence and the impact of the disease... Cases requiring hospitalization and intensive care units, as well as about deaths,"he said.

Meanwhile, the EU Health Agency expressed its belief that the imposition of mandatory covid-19 Tests on travelers coming from China is "unjustified".

The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention said it does not believe that the high number of infections in China will affect the epidemiological situation in the bloc "due to the higher population immunity within the countries of the European Union and the European Economic Area, in addition to the fact that the variants currently circulating in China have already appeared and changed later".

Three years after the first cases of covid-19 appeared in Wuhan (Central), on the seventh of December China suddenly canceled its strict policy known as"zero covid".

This policy, adopted since 2020, has allowed the population to be largely protected from the virus, thanks to generalized tests, strict monitoring of movements and also to mandatory quarantine and sanitary as soon as cases are detected.

However, these harsh measures, which kept the country largely isolated from the rest of the planet, dealt a severe blow to the world's second largest economy and provoked extraordinary indignation in November.

Since the lifting of restrictions, hospitals have been flooded with patients, the majority of whom are elderly and vulnerable due to non-vaccination, while many pharmacies lack fever-lowering drugs.

The country stopped issuing tourist visas about three years ago, while imposing mandatory quarantine on arrival. This quarantine measure will be lifted on the eighth of January, but the "PCR" test still needs to be done 48 hours in advance.

In response, the United States and other countries, including Italy, Japan and South Korea, announced that they will force all arrivals from mainland China to test negative for covid-19.

On Friday, the Spanish government imposed "checks" on passengers arriving from China at its airports to make sure they are not infected with covid.

Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias said at a press conference that these arrivals will be asked for "proof that their tests are negative or a full vaccination certificate", without mentioning when the measure will come into force.

The French government announced on Friday evening that it would be mandatory for passengers flying to France to present a negative covid-19 test before taking off from China.

Also in the UK, the government announced the imposition of a similar measure on expats from China, British media reported Friday.

In a sign of the divisions in Europe over the response to the new situation in China, Germany, for its part, demands to monitor the spread of covid-19 variants at European airports without going so far as to impose Corona tests.

In Brussels, an informal meeting of the European Commission, aimed at developing a "coordinated approach" for member states, did not lead to a decision.