A week after the relaxation of strict corona policy in China, the country’s authorities can no longer closely monitor the spread of the virus. The actual number of infections can no longer be specified, the national health authority said on Wednesday. “Many asymptomatic people no longer do PCR testing, so it is impossible to accurately name the current number of asymptomatic infected people.”
Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chunlan, 72, said in media reports that the number of infections in the capital Beijing is “rising rapidly”. In view of this development, many people stock up on medicines, online networks report on sold-out medicines and long lines in front of pharmacies in the capital.
Government promises better aid
Meanwhile, the government promises better medical treatment and supply of medicines. Sun Chunlan called for a “smooth transition” from the earlier prevention against the virus to the medical treatment of those infected that is now necessary.
Hospitals are dealing with a surge in Covid patients, while healthcare workers are also becoming infected en masse. The authorities called on the population to cure the disease at home if possible and not to flock to the clinics.
The deputy prime minister also underlined the need to “effectively” coordinate the response to the virus with economic developments – which is taken as indicative of one of the motivations behind the zero Covid turnaround. The many lockdowns, restrictions on movement and other coercive measures had seriously affected the growth of the second largest economy.
Not only hospitals are overloaded, many pharmacies no longer have medicines for colds and fevers. Sun Chunlan therefore stressed that additional fever clinics and more staff are needed. Above all, the elderly, children, patients with previous illnesses, pregnant women and other particularly vulnerable groups should be better protected, the politician said during her visit to health facilities on Tuesday.
Corona throws China off course
After nationwide protests and a slump in foreign trade in November, the People’s Republic began moving away from its strict zero-Covid policy a week ago. Across the country, quarantine rules and testing requirements were initially eased or even abolished, and mass closures came to an end. On Monday, authorities also announced the end of the state’s Corona app, which severely restricted people’s movement for two and a half years.
The abrupt reversal of Chinese leadership means the country is now facing a wave of coronavirus cases for which it is ill-prepared: millions of elderly people are still not fully vaccinated and underfunded hospitals lack the capacity to handle one to accommodate large numbers of people. patients. (AFP/SDA)