Hong Kong (CNN) — A surging Covid outbreak in China. Nations imposing journey restrictions on Chinese language vacationers, cautious of the virus being imported. Scientists warning towards fearmongering and xenophobia.

However this is not early 2020. The acquainted scene is enjoying out now as China battles its biggest-ever outbreak, after abandoning its stringent zero-Covid method and partially reopening its border three years into the pandemic.

Nearly half of the 212 passengers who arrived in Italy’s Milan airport from China on Monday examined constructive for Covid, stated a regional well being chief on Wednesday.

However whereas nations together with the US and Japan transfer to impose restrictions, others such France and Nice Britain have made it clear they’re able to welcome Chinese language vacationers — who, pre-pandemic, had been a significant driver of worldwide tourism.

China responded by claiming its Covid state of affairs was “below management,” and accused Western media of “distorting” its current coverage modifications.

“The true intention is to sabotage China’s three years of Covid-19 management efforts and assault the nation’s system,” state-run tabloid International Instances stated in an article Thursday, citing specialists in calling the restrictions “unfounded” and “discriminatory.”

Which nations are imposing testing necessities?

Japan introduced on Tuesday that each one vacationers who’ve both been to mainland China or have traveled there inside seven days can be examined on arrival beginning Friday, and that the federal government would restrict the variety of flights to and from China.

The nation’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, pointed to the dearth of official Chinese language authorities knowledge. “Whereas there’s data that the an infection is spreading quickly in mainland China, concern has been rising in Japan as it’s troublesome to understand the detailed state of affairs,” he stated.

Indian authorities carried out comparable pointers on vacationers not solely from China, but additionally a number of close by places together with Japan, South Korea and Thailand. The rules are aimed toward making certain that Covid would not unfold shortly because it has in China, authorities stated Tuesday.

Taiwan additionally introduced necessary assessments on arrival for vacationers coming from mainland China on Wednesday. The self-ruling island has banned mainland Chinese language vacationers for the reason that pandemic, and solely permits Chinese language residents to go to for enterprise or household causes.

In all three locations, these discovered constructive on arrival can be required to quarantine for a number of days.

In Europe, each Spain and Italy tightened their restrictions. Spain now requires a unfavourable check for Covid-19 or proof of full vaccination for guests arriving from China, whereas Italy has introduced again necessary testing. The UK has stated it’s contemplating whether or not to introduce new guidelines.

Individuals stroll with suitcases by way of a departure foyer the Beijing airport on December 27.

KYDPL KYODO/AP

The measures are notably putting given most of those locations — particularly within the West — have lengthy reopened their borders and deserted testing necessities as a part of the transition to residing with Covid.

In Europe, Italy — the primary nation on the continent to be hit by a widespread outbreak in 2020 — introduced it will require Covid assessments for all vacationers coming from China, with the well being minister saying it was important to determine “any variants … with a view to shield the Italian inhabitants.”

On Thursday, the European Centre for Illness Prevention and Management (ECDC) stated China’s surge in circumstances was not anticipated to impression the Covid state of affairs within the European Union, and referred to as restrictions on vacationers from China “unjustified.”

So are variants a danger?

Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for world well being on the Council on Overseas Relations, acknowledged the danger of a brand new variant rising in “unvaccinated populations.”

“Although (in China) formally they’ve 90% of the inhabitants vaccinated with two doses of the inactivated vaccines, you continue to have a big share of the aged who usually are not vaccinated … and most of the people who find themselves vaccinated did so greater than six months in the past, so their antibody ranges already are very low,” he stated. “So we will not rule out the likelihood that new variants can certainly emerge in China and unfold to different elements of the world.”

One federal US well being official pointed to the pace of the outbreak in China, saying: “With so many individuals in China being contaminated in a brief time frame, there’s a likelihood and likelihood {that a} new variant will emerge.”

US officers have additionally expressed issues about China’s lack of transparency surrounding the current surge in circumstances, notably the absence of genome sequencing data that might assist detect new strains of the coronavirus.

Nevertheless, GISEAD, a worldwide virus database, stated Chinese language authorities had been submitting extra genomic data from current samples — and that these appear to match the variants which can be already circulating globally.

Karen Grepin, an affiliate professor on the College of Public Well being on the College of Hong Kong, stated a rustic’s greatest protection towards potential variants was to concentrate on home insurance policies defending its personal inhabitants — akin to stepping up vaccinations, sustaining social distancing and different primary public well being measures.

“In lots of elements of the world, the pandemic feels prefer it’s over … however on the finish of the day, (these measures) are in the end what prevents the transmission of the virus,” she stated.

“If nations are on the level the place they suppose these issues are now not essential, as a result of for instance they’ve developed a lot inhabitants immunity, then why care about a few new circumstances coming in from China?”

Are the measures efficient?

Regardless of the potential danger, many well being specialists have broadly criticized the brand new testing necessities as ineffective at greatest and alarmist at worst.

“I do not see any convincing motive to justify this transfer,” stated Huang, from the Council on Overseas Relations. “Up to now we have no proof supporting whether or not there are certainly such variants rising in mainland China.”

“I can perceive issues due to the dearth of transparency, due to the dearth of sharing of the genomic sequencing,” he added. “However even with a ban, we can not forestall the unfold of the virus. And assuming there’s certainly new variants rising in mainland China, we’d simply delay the unfold, we’re not going to stop the virus from spreading to different elements of the world.”

Grepin echoed this level, saying: “In actuality, we wouldn’t have the scientific proof to assist the effectiveness of those measures in follow.”

If an infectious variant does emerge, it is going to doubtless enter america by way of different nations anyway, she stated, stating that restrictions “did little or no” when Omicron emerged final fall.

Pre-departure testing — which the US is requiring — can be solely considerably efficient, since many new variants have a brief incubation interval, that means “there’ll nonetheless be circumstances that may make it by way of,” she added.

Political strain and xenophobia

There are a couple of the explanation why nations could also be imposing these restrictions regardless of their questionable use, Grepin stated — one being the concern that Chinese language Covid sufferers might be fleeing elsewhere to hunt remedy with hospitals at residence utterly overwhelmed.

However, she added, that is fairly unlikely. The amount of journey popping out of China remains to be extraordinarily low, partly as a result of restricted variety of flights. And on the fee Covid is spreading, it will pose a logistical problem for contaminated sufferers to right away get visas and ebook flights abroad.

As a substitute, the current flurry of restrictions doubtless displays the “political strain (on authorities) to appear to be they’re doing one thing,” she stated. “We see one nation do it after which different nations observe go well with.”

Medical workers deal with sufferers in a hospital in Jiangsu, China, on December 28.

CFOTO/Future Publishing /Getty Photographs

Specialists are additionally warning that singling out China might heighten the danger of better anti-Chinese language racism, as seen early within the pandemic when Asians all over the world confronted discrimination and violent hate crimes.

China is not the one place seeing an uptick in circumstances, stated Huang. “I do not see why China needs to be handled in a different way from different nations like Australia, for instance, which is swimming in Covid,” he added.

The US is probably going importing tens of hundreds of circumstances from all over the world even now, stated Grepin, including that 1 to three% of all worldwide vacationers have Covid — so there’s little level in particularly concentrating on Covid coming from one nation.

“We have seen this all through the pandemic — when sure measures are being focused at folks coming from a selected place, it reinforces stereotypes or beliefs that viruses are coming from sure elements of the world … It is simply merely not true,” she stated.

Which nations are welcoming Chinese language vacationers again?

In contrast, many nations have thrown open their doorways in welcome.

The tourism departments and embassies of France, Thailand, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Austria and Switzerland all posted messages on Weibo, China’s model of Twitter, inviting Chinese language vacationers.

“Chinese language pals, France welcomes you with open arms!” the French embassy wrote on Weibo. The Thai nationwide tourism administration wrote: “Thailand has been ready for you for 3 years!”

Many Weibo customers celebrated their newfound freedom to journey, with the hashtag “The place to journey overseas subsequent 12 months” garnering near 80 million views.

China alone contributed 51% of the journey and tourism GDP within the Asia-Pacific area in 2018, in keeping with the World Journey and Tourism Council. And Chinese language vacationers sometimes accounted for 30% of all arrivals in Thailand.

CNN’s Cheng Cheng, Pierre Meilhan, Kevin Liptak, Valentina Di Donato, Eric Cheung, Emi Jozuka, Gabby Gretener, Lauren Kent and CNN’s Beijing bureau contributed reporting.