Last Update: January 16, 2023, 2:00 PM IST
Chinese health officials and state media have repeatedly said that COVID infections have peaked, although they caution that the number of severe cases is rising in rural areas. (File photo: Reuters)
Ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which officially begins on January 21, state media has been inundated with stories of rural hospitals and clinics stretching their supplies of medicines and equipment.
Luggage-laden travelers crowded railway stations and airports in China’s metropolises on Monday, heading home for the holidays that health experts fear could intensify a COVID-19 outbreak that has killed thousands Is.
After three years of strict and suffocating anti-virus controls, China abruptly abandoned its “zero COVID” policy in early December, allowing the virus to run freely through its 1.4 billion population.
Nearly 60,000 people infected with Covid died in hospitals between December 8 and January 12, officials said on Saturday, much higher than previous figures that drew criticism. World health organization for not reflecting the scale and severity of the outbreak.
One health expert has said that even those numbers may not include the many people who died at home, especially in rural areas with weak medical systems. Many experts estimate that more than one million people will die of the disease in China this year.
Ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, also known as the Spring Festival, which officially begins on January 21, state media has been inundated with stories of rural hospitals and clinics running out of supplies of their medicines and equipment. are increasing.
A doctor from Shanxi province said in a regional news article, “The peak of COVID infection in our village has passed, but the Spring Festival is coming and the villagers still left behind, especially the elderly, are at risk of secondary infection ” Outlet Red Star News.
“If anti-viral and other drugs were in abundance, I would have been more confident,” the doctor said.
As well as fever medicines and oxygen supplies, China’s National Health Commission has said it will equip every village clinic with pulse oximeters, fingertip devices commonly used to check oxygen levels during the pandemic is used.
travel rush
According to Reuters witnesses, Beijing’s main railway station has been packed with passengers leaving the capital in recent days.
China’s most populous city, Shanghai, has added temporary night trains to meet demand for commuters headed to eastern Anhui province, China’s official state news agency Xinhua reported.
Meanwhile, daily arrivals at Macau’s gambling hub exceeded 55,000 on Saturday, the highest daily arrivals since the pandemic began.
In Hong Kong, the government has said it will increase the number of people passing through designated land border control points on the mainland from 50,000 to 65,000 per day between January 18 and January 21.
China’s transport ministry has said it expects more than 2 billion trips in the weeks surrounding the holiday.
A revival of travel in China has raised hopes of a comeback in the world’s second-largest economy, which is suffering its slowest growth rate in nearly half a century.
Those hopes helped lift Asian equity markets on Monday, which posted a 4.2% gain last week.
China’s blue-chip index was up 0.6% on Monday, while hopes of a recovery in demand from China, the world’s top importer, also supported global oil prices.
Chinese data on economic growth, retail sales and industrial production due this week is sure to disappoint, but markets will focus on how China’s reopening could impact global growth, analysts say.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)