The Chinese CDC reported no COVID-19 deaths on the mainland for the past six days till Sunday. Many allege that the country is reporting only a fraction of the number|China News Service|CC BY 3.0
China’s hospitals are facing a mass influx of COVID-19 patients—most of them elderly— and doctors worry that medical facilities are “unprepared” and “overwhelmed” with it.
Many have connected the rise in cases to China recently easing its zero COVID policy this month.
New wave expected
Hospitals in Shanghai expect at least 25 million people in the city to be infected by COVID-19 this week. Nurses in the western city of Xian were instructed to continue working even if they test positive and have a mild fever. Beijing crematories have been struggling to meet the surging demands this month.
The number game
Despite the rise in the number of hospital admissions, China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said it will stop publishing daily data on COVID-19 but the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will.
The Chinese CDC reported no COVID-19 deaths on the mainland for the past six days till this Sunday. Many allege that China is reporting only a fraction of the numbers affected.
“It's not medicine, it’s politics,” said Sonia Jutard-Bourreau, a chief medical officer in a Beijing hospital. ‘If they're dying now with COVID it's because of COVID. The mortality rate now it's political numbers, not medical.”
No quarantine for travelers
Amid all this chaos, China’s NHC has announced that foreigners entering the country from January 2023 will not be required to quarantine.