Chinese official warns against touching foreigners after monkeypox case

Chinese official warns against touching foreigners after monkeypox case

A top Chinese health official has warned locals against touching foreigners, a day after China recorded its first monkeypox infection.

In a post on Weibo, the central disease transmission specialist at the Chinese Place for Infectious prevention and Counteraction (CDC) Wu Zunyou prompted against “skin-to-skin contact with foreigners”.

The post drew controversy, with some labeling it racist.

Comments on the original post have since been disabled from the platform.

“In order to prevent possible monkeypox infection and as part of our healthy lifestyle, it is recommended that 1) you do not have direct skin-to-skin contact with foreigners,” said Mr. Wu on his Weibo page on Saturday.

In addition, Mr. Wu also called for locals to avoid skin-to-skin contact with recent travelers who had returned from abroad in the last three weeks, and with strangers.

He posted the comments a day after the southwestern city of Chongqing reported its first case of monkeypox in an individual who arrived from abroad. It is not clear if the individual was a Chinese citizen or a foreigner.

The post, which was broadly shared via virtual entertainment during the end of the week, drew generally basic remarks on Weibo.

“This is very inappropriate [to say]. At the start of the pandemic, some foreigners stood up and [defended us] by saying that Chinese people are not viruses,” wrote one commenter.

“How racist is this? What about the ones like me who have been living in China for almost ten years? We haven’t seen our families in like 3-4 years due to borders being closed,” wrote another user on Weibo, who appeared to be a foreigner.

China has imposed some of the world’s toughest Covid measures since the start of the pandemic, which have included snap lockdowns, border closures, mandatory testing and travel restrictions.

The monkeypox infection, which is sent through close contact with tainted individuals, creatures or debased materials, typically causes side effects like fever, cerebral pain and rashes.

Around 90 countries where monkeypox is not considered endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease, which the World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency.

There have been more than 60,000 confirmed cases and some non-endemic countries have reported their first related deaths.