Wu Zunyou, the Chief Expert of Epidemiology at China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has modified the five suggestions he put forward for preventing the spread of monkeypox.
Originally, the first of five suggestions said that people should not “have direct skin-to-skin contact with foreigners” (不要同外国人发生肌肤直接接触).
READ MORE: CDC Warns Chinese People Not to Touch Foreigners
This has now been adapted to “Do not have close skin-to-skin contact with foreigners who have recently (within the last three weeks) come from a monkeypox epidemic area outside China and may be infected with the disease.”
So, if you plan on having skin-to-skin contact with a foreigner, make sure you first ask them how long they’ve been in China and where they come from and extensively research the monkeypox situation in that country.
It might make riding the metro at peak times more difficult, but at least it will ensure you’re not infected by China’s (already in quarantine) sole monkeypox case.
Wu’s suggestions also said people shouldn’t have direct contact with individuals who have entered China within three weeks.
This point has been updated to: “Do not have close skin-to-skin contact with people who have recently (within three weeks) traveled from or transited through an overseas monkeypox epidemic area and are likely to be infected with the disease.”
The third suggestion given to the world’s most populous country, “Don't have direct skin-to-skin contact with strangers,” was changed to “Don't have intimate direct skin-to-skin contact with strangers.”
Suggestions four and five, “Keep good hand hygiene” and “When using public toilets, including the toilets of hotels on business trips, if you use a seated toilet, use disposable toilet seat covers as much as possible and if conditions do not allow, use alcohol wipes or paper towels dipped in hot water to wipe the seat before using,” remained unchanged.
[Cover image via Pixabay]
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