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Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has sparked controversy by warning the public not to have “direct skin-to-skin contact” with foreigners.
A day after the first case of monkeypox was detected in mainland China, Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, sparked controversy by warning the public not to have “direct skin-to-skin contact” with foreigners.
The southwestern city of Chongqing found a monkeypox case on September 16. Wu Zunyou suggested on Weibo: “Don’t have direct skin-to-skin contact with foreigners.”
Some critics have dismissed the description as racist, and the post has now been disabled for commenting.
Wu Zunyou wrote on Weibo that his appeal was “to prevent possible monkeypox infection and as our daily healthy lifestyle.”
In addition to the suggestion, he also called on the public to “do not have skin-to-skin contact with people who have recently returned from abroad (within three weeks)” and “do not have skin-to-skin contact with strangers.”
Wu Zunyou also appealed to “pay attention to good hand hygiene”, “use public toilets, including toilets in hotels on business trips, if you use toilets, use disposable toilet paper as much as possible, if conditions do not allow, you can also use alcohol wet tissue or dipped Wipe with hot water with a paper towel before use.”
The first confirmed case of monkeypox found in Chongqing was a 29-year-old Chinese salesperson, according to a “Site Minutes” released Monday (September 19) by the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly report.
He had “emerged with men having sex” after visiting Germany on September 2, then traveled to Spain and returned to Chongqing on September 14.
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The southwestern city of Chongqing found a monkeypox case on September 16.
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A statement issued by the Chongqing Municipal Health and Health Commission said the patient was discovered due to rash and other symptoms during a centralized quarantine for COVID-19 prevention and control in China.
The statement also said that all those in close contact with the confirmed cases have been quarantined and placed under medical observation.
As China’s top epidemiologist, Wu Zunyou’s Weibo was widely reposted on social media over the weekend, and he, who has nearly half a million followers, was criticized by many.
“(To say that) is very inappropriate. At the beginning of the epidemic, some foreigners also stood up (in defense of us) and said that the Chinese do not represent the virus.”
“How racist is this? What about someone like me who has lived in China for nearly ten years? We haven’t seen our family for three or four years because the border is closed,” wrote another Weibo user who appeared to be a foreigner. road.
Since the global outbreak of the new crown epidemic, China is one of the countries in the world that has adopted the most stringent epidemic prevention measures, including strict control of entry and exit, rapid blockade, large-scale nucleic acid testing and travel ban.
The monkeypox virus is spread through close contact with an infected person, animal or contaminated material and usually causes symptoms such as fever, headache and rash.
About 90 non-monkeypox-endemic countries have reported outbreaks of the infectious disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared monkeypox an international public health emergency.
There are currently more than 60,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox globally, and some non-traditional monkeypox-endemic countries have reported related deaths.
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monkeypox virus
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Symptoms of monkeypox include a rash that starts on the face and spreads throughout the body.