BEIJING: Officials warned that cases are rapidly rising in Beijing as a result of the government’s abrupt abandonment of its zero-Covid policy on Wednesday and that the true scale of coronavirus infections in the country is now “impossible” to track.
After nearly three years of attempting to eradicate the virus, Beijing’s decision to end mass testing and quarantines has resulted in a drop in officially reported infections, which reached an all-time high just last month. However, China’s National Health Commission (NHC) acknowledged on Wednesday that those numbers no longer reflected reality due to the fact that testing is no longer required in a significant portion of the country.
The NHC stated in a statement on Wednesday that “it is impossible to accurately grasp the actual number of asymptomatic infected people” because “many asymptomatic people are no longer participating in nucleic acid testing.”
That came after Vice Premier Sun Chunlan stated that new infections were “rapidly growing” in the capital. Despite the fact that the country is experiencing an increase in cases that experts believe it is ill-equipped to manage, Chinese leaders are determined to continue.
Underfunded hospitals lack the resources to handle an influx of infected patients, and millions of elderly people who are at risk are still not fully vaccinated. Specialists said on Wednesday they would start permitting a few weak gatherings, including those 60 and more established, to get a subsequent sponsor shot a half year after their first. On Wednesday, a fever clinic door was packed with about fifty people, and a number of Beijing residents confirmed to this news agency that they had contracted Covid.
“Basically, we are all infected if we are lining up here. One person in line stated, “If we weren’t, we wouldn’t come here.”
“We are coming to do a checkup on him because I am here with a senior member of my family, and he has had a fever for nearly 10 days in a row.” Residents are finding it difficult to adjust to living with the virus, despite the fact that restaurants, shops, and parks are now permitted to reopen. Many people who are experiencing symptoms have decided to self-medicate at home, while others are staying in to avoid contracting the infection.
As Covid-19 sweeps through the population and affects staffing, businesses are also struggling. Consequently, the streets of the capital are largely deserted.
According to a resident in his 80s who declined to provide his name, “basically I follow the requirements of the Beijing government, that the elderly should stay home and go out as little as possible.”
He said that because he thought Omicron was gentle, he wasn’t too worried, but that “there shouldn’t be complete relaxation and freedom.” How can we be free if we are dead, right? He stated
Chinese search engine Baidu reported a 432 percent increase in searches for fever-reducing Ibuprofen over the past week. Residents have also voiced concerns about pharmacies overcrowding and running out of cold medicines.
Rapid antigen tests and medications have become so popular that there is now a black market with sky-high prices, and buyers are turning to “dealers” whose names are circulated in WeChat groups.
