Washington,In response to a spike in Chinese respiratory illness cases, five Republican senators, including Marco Rubio, have called on President Joe Biden to impose a travel ban between the United States and China. The senators emphasized the need to restrict travel until more is known about the new illness. The World Health Organization has sought additional information from China following reports of undiagnosed pneumonia clusters in children.
A Biden administration official stated that the U.S. is closely monitoring the situation but sees no abnormal trends at present. The Chinese Embassy in Washington dismissed the claims as “purely ill-intentioned fabrications.”
Maria Van Kerkhove of the WHO suggested that the rise in cases could be linked to an increase in children contracting pathogens avoided during COVID-19 restrictions. Despite the surge in respiratory illnesses, the U.S. and China have been increasing flights between the countries in recent months.
In 2020, then-President Donald Trump imposed travel restrictions on non-U.S. citizens from China due to COVID concerns. However, flights between the two countries were not restricted. Travel restrictions were lifted for fully vaccinated international visitors in November 2021.
