A top Chinese health official recently warned people on social media not to touch foreigners after the country reported its first case of monkeypox.
In a post on Weibo on Saturday, Wu Junyu, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, announced that China now has cases of monkeys "sneaking through the net" despite strict restrictions.
"It is necessary and important to strengthen monitoring and prevention of monkeys," Wu wrote.
He also listed five recommendations in the post, the first of which sparked controversy online.
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"To prevent possible exposure to monkeys and as part of our healthy lifestyle, it is recommended to: 1) avoid direct skin contact with strangers," he wrote.
Chinese health authorities have reportedly identified monkeypox, an infection that causes flu-like symptoms, a severe rash and other symptoms, as an "international arrival" of COVID-19 quarantined in the southwestern Chinese community of Chongqing.
Many Weibo users reportedly shared Wu's post, with some supporting his proposal and expressing relief at not meeting many Chinese nationals. However, some users criticized Wu's post and even compared it to what Asians experienced at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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"It's like when the epidemic started when some people abroad were afraid to meet Chinese," one user commented. "I don't think these two things have a scientific basis, they are too broad and will exacerbate the panic in society."
"When the epidemic started, some of our foreign friends stood up and used our platform to tell everyone, 'Chinese people are not the virus,'" another user wrote. "Then, when the domestic epidemic was brought under control and our foreign friends began to be discriminated against, many Chinese remained silent on their platforms."
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Another Weibo user questioned Wu's message, asking why foreigners who have lived in China for a long time should be more dangerous than locals.
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On Sunday, the comment section for Wu's post, which went viral on Weibo over the weekend, was deactivated.
Senior health officials clarified his message after the backlash on Monday, advising people to avoid "close skin-to-skin contact" with strangers or people who have come from areas with confirmed monkey cases.
Some Chinese experts believe that, unlike COVID-19, which prompted sudden lockdowns across the country, including a month-long lockdown in Shanghai that began in late March, monkeys will not lead to a nationwide lockdown.
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Speaking to the Global Times, Lu Hongzhu, head of the Third People's Hospital in Shenzhen, said the disease "does not pose a particular threat to the Chinese community." However, Lu also mentioned strict quarantine customs inspections to avoid cases being imported into China.
As of September 19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 23,893 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the United States, with California having the most cases with 4,656 infections, followed by New York with 3,755.
Featured image via Peking University