Five senators ask Biden to impose China travel ban after respiratory illness cases

WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Five Republican senators led by Marco Rubio on Friday asked President Joe Biden’s administration to ban travel between the United States and China after a spike in Chinese respiratory disease cases.

“We will immediately limit travel between the United States and (China) until we know more about the dangers posed by this new disease,” said the letter signed by Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, along with Senators JD Vance, Rick Scott, Tommy Tuberville and Mike Braun.

The increase in cases became a global problem last week when the World Health Organization to asked China for more information, citing a report on clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children from the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases.

A Biden administration official said the United States has been closely monitoring the rise in respiratory illnesses in China, but added: “We are seeing seasonal trends. Nothing appears out of the ordinary… At this time, there is no indication that there is a link between people seeking care in emergency departments of the United States and the outbreak of respiratory diseases in China.”

The spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, said in response to the Rubio letter: “The relevant claims are purely malicious fabrications. China firmly opposes them.”

Maria Van Kerkhove, acting director of WHO’s department for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, said earlier this week that the increase appeared to be driven by an increase in the number of children who they fought pathogens they had avoided during two years of COVID-19 restrictions. .

In recent months, the United States and China have continuously increased flights between the countries, although they remain well below 2019 levels. The number approved rose on November 9 to 35 per week for each country, from 12 a week in August.

In January 2020, then-President Donald Trump barred most non-US citizens who had recently been to China from entering the United States due to concerns about COVID, but did not limit flights between the two countries.

The United States has lifted unprecedented travel restrictions for fully vaccinated international visitors starting in November 2021, including from China. The US canceled a separate requirement that air travelers test negative before arriving in June 2022.

The United States in January started asking airline passengers to get negative COVID tests after Beijing’s decision to lift its strict zero-COVID policies, but lifted the requirements in March.

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