What’s new: China will classify monkeypox as a Class B infectious disease from Wednesday, the National Health Commission (NHC) announced Friday, after detecting 500 cases of the virus last month.
The change will allow local authorities to take measures such as lockdowns, suspending classes and temporarily closing businesses during a monkeypox outbreak, according to the Law on Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases.
The goal is to safeguard people’s lives and health, as monkeypox cases have surfaced in more than 20 provincial-level regions across the country, triggering outbreaks, the NHC said in a statement.
In August alone, the Chinese mainland reported 501 confirmed cases, with the provinces of Guangdong, Zhejiang and Sichuan, as well as Beijing and Shanghai, among the hardest hit, according to data from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The background: China puts infectious diseases into three categories, with Class A as the highest level. Class A now only includes plague and cholera. Twenty-seven are classified as Class B, including AIDS, rabies and Covid-19, the last of which was downgraded from Class A in January when China reopened its borders after three years of strict curbs.
Monkeypox is an infectious disease with symptoms that include rash, fever and sore throat, according to the World Health Organization. It can be spread through skin-to-skin contact during sex.
The mainland first detected the virus in September 2022, when Chongqing confirmed an imported case. In June, Beijing reported two cases of monkeypox, including one locally transmitted infection.
Contact reporter Wang Xintong (xintongwang@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)
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