China Covid News: China is grappling to handle a massive surge of Covid, putting further pressure on the country’s healthcare facilities as the government lifted its tight anti-virus controls following public protests against the zero-Covid policy.
According to reports, many cities in China, including Beijing, are under the grip of the Omicron variant of the rapidly spreading coronavirus. Health officials confirmed that Chinese cities are currently affected by the highly contagious Omicron strains, mainly BA.5.2 and BF.7, which are spreading like wildfire.
According to an estimate, more than 70 percent of the city’s population has come under the grip of this virus, which has imprisoned millions of people in their homes.
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Epidemiologist and health economist Eric Feigel-Ding said hospitals across China have been overwhelmed since Covid restrictions were lifted. Feigl-Ding shared a video on his Twitter handle which shows the hospital being packed with patients. He further warned that the death toll due to Covid could run into lakhs.
cremation grounds are not able to withstand the pressure
Many residents in the capital Beijing are struggling to get medicine, with long queues at hospital fever clinics and a spike in calls for ambulances. A report in the South China Morning Post said the city’s funeral centers were also under pressure with more cremations.
The report said that at the Beijing Dongjiao Funeral Home, which handles COVID cases, bereaved relatives say they have been waiting for days for family members to be cremated.
“Cremations nonstop in Beijing. Morgues are overloaded. Refrigerated containers are needed. Funerals 24/7. 2000 bodies are backlogged for cremation. Sound familiar? It’s spring 2020 again—but this time for China, more Western -emulating the mass transition approach,” Eric Feigel-Ding said in his Twitter thread.
three deadly covid waves
Leading Chinese epidemiologists say the epidemic will peak in January and February, although the number of Covid infections will continue to rise in the short term.
Epidemiologist Wu Zunyao has said the current spike in infections will last until mid-January, while a second wave will start with mass travel in January, around the week-long Lunar New Year celebrations starting January 21.
A third surge in cases will hit from late February to mid-March as people return to work after vacation, Dr. Wu was quoted in the media as saying.
(with inputs from agencies)