China’s Covid-19 outbreak rages as mouthpiece paper hails ‘final victory’
Health experts predict at least one-million deaths in the Asian country this year as 9,000 people die each day from the virus
04 January 2023 - 13:14
byBernard Orr and Liz Lee
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Travellers walk with their luggage at Beijing Capital International Airport on December 27 amid the Covid-19 outbreak in Beijing, China. Picture: REUTERS/TINGSHU WANG/FILE PHOTO
Beijing — Global health officials tried to determine the facts of China’s raging Covid-19 outbreak and how to prevent a further spread as the government’s mouthpiece newspaper on Wednesday rallied citizens for a “final victory” over the virus.
China’s axing of its stringent virus curbs last month has unleashed Covid-19 on a 1.4-billion population that has little natural immunity having been shielded from the virus since it emerged in its Wuhan city three years ago.
Funeral homes have reported a spike in demand for their services, hospitals are packed with patients, and international health experts predict at least one-million deaths in China this year.
But officially, China has reported a small number of Covid-19 deaths since the zero-Covid policy U-turn and has played down concerns about a disease that it was previously at pains to eradicate through mass lockdowns even as the rest of the world opened up.
“China and the Chinese people will surely win the final victory against the epidemic,” Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mouthpiece People’s Daily said in an editorial, rebutting criticism of its tough antivirus regime that triggered historic protests late last year.
As it now dismantles those restrictions, China has been particularly critical of decisions by some countries to impose a requirement for a Covid-19 test on its citizens, saying they are unreasonable and lack scientific basis.
Japan became the latest country to mandate pre-departure Covid-19 testing for travellers from China after similar measures by the US, Britain, South Korea and others.
Health officials from the 27-member EU are due to meet on Wednesday to discuss a co-ordinated response to China travel. Most EU countries favour pre-departure Covid-19 testing for visitors from China.
China, which has been largely shut off from the world since the pandemic began in late 2019, will stop requiring inbound travellers to quarantine from January 8. But it will still demand that arriving passengers get tested before they begin their journeys.
Doubt on data
Meanwhile, World Health Organisation (WHO) officials met Chinese scientists on Tuesday amid concern over the accuracy of China’s data on the spread and evolution of its outbreak.
The UN agency had invited the scientists to present detailed data on viral sequencing and to share data on hospitalisation, deaths and vaccinations.
The WHO would release information about the talks later, probably at a Wednesday briefing, its spokesperson said. The spokesperson earlier said the agency expected a “detailed discussion” about circulating variants in China, and globally.
Last month, Reuters reported that the WHO had not received data from China on new Covid-19 hospitalisations since Beijing’s policy shift, prompting some health experts to question whether it might be concealing the extent of its outbreak.
China reported five new Covid-19 deaths for Tuesday, compared with three a day earlier, bringing the official death toll to 5,258 — very low by global standards.
China’s axing of its stringent virus curbs has unleashed Covid-19 on a 1.4-billion population that has little natural immunity having been shielded from the virus since it emerged three years ago.
But the toll is widely believed to be much higher. British-based health data firm Airfinity has said about 9,000 people in China are probably dying each day from Covid-19.
There were chaotic scenes at Shanghai’s Zhongshan hospital where patients, many of them elderly, jostled for space on Tuesday in packed halls between makeshift beds where people used oxygen ventilators and got intravenous drips.
With Covid-19 disruptions slowing China’s $17-trillion economy to its lowest growth in nearly half a century, investors are now hoping policymakers will intervene to counter the slide.
China’s yuan hovered at a four-month high against the dollar on Wednesday, after its finance minister pledged to step up fiscal expansion this year, days after the central bank said it would implement more policy support for the economy.
Booking boom
Despite some countries imposing restrictions on Chinese visitors, interest in outbound travel from the world’s most populous country is cranking up, state media reported.
Bookings for international flights from China have risen by 145% year-on-year in recent days, the government-run China Daily newspaper reported, citing data from travel platform Trip.com.
The number of international flights to and from China is still a fraction of pre-Covid-19 levels. The government has said it will increase flights and make it easier for people to travel abroad.
Thailand, a major destination for Chinese tourists, is expecting at least five-million Chinese arrivals this year, its tourism authority said on Tuesday.
More than 11-million Chinese tourists visited Thailand in 2019, nearly a third of its total visitors.
But there are already signs that an increase in travel from China could pose problems abroad.
South Korea, which began testing travellers from China for Covid-19 on Monday, said more than a fifth of the test results were positive.
Authorities there were hunting on Wednesday for one Chinese national who tested positive, but went missing while awaiting quarantine. The person, who was not identified, could face up to a year in prison or fines of 10-million won ($7,840).
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
China’s Covid-19 outbreak rages as mouthpiece paper hails ‘final victory’
Health experts predict at least one-million deaths in the Asian country this year as 9,000 people die each day from the virus
Beijing — Global health officials tried to determine the facts of China’s raging Covid-19 outbreak and how to prevent a further spread as the government’s mouthpiece newspaper on Wednesday rallied citizens for a “final victory” over the virus.
China’s axing of its stringent virus curbs last month has unleashed Covid-19 on a 1.4-billion population that has little natural immunity having been shielded from the virus since it emerged in its Wuhan city three years ago.
Funeral homes have reported a spike in demand for their services, hospitals are packed with patients, and international health experts predict at least one-million deaths in China this year.
But officially, China has reported a small number of Covid-19 deaths since the zero-Covid policy U-turn and has played down concerns about a disease that it was previously at pains to eradicate through mass lockdowns even as the rest of the world opened up.
“China and the Chinese people will surely win the final victory against the epidemic,” Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mouthpiece People’s Daily said in an editorial, rebutting criticism of its tough antivirus regime that triggered historic protests late last year.
As it now dismantles those restrictions, China has been particularly critical of decisions by some countries to impose a requirement for a Covid-19 test on its citizens, saying they are unreasonable and lack scientific basis.
Japan became the latest country to mandate pre-departure Covid-19 testing for travellers from China after similar measures by the US, Britain, South Korea and others.
Health officials from the 27-member EU are due to meet on Wednesday to discuss a co-ordinated response to China travel. Most EU countries favour pre-departure Covid-19 testing for visitors from China.
China, which has been largely shut off from the world since the pandemic began in late 2019, will stop requiring inbound travellers to quarantine from January 8. But it will still demand that arriving passengers get tested before they begin their journeys.
Doubt on data
Meanwhile, World Health Organisation (WHO) officials met Chinese scientists on Tuesday amid concern over the accuracy of China’s data on the spread and evolution of its outbreak.
The UN agency had invited the scientists to present detailed data on viral sequencing and to share data on hospitalisation, deaths and vaccinations.
The WHO would release information about the talks later, probably at a Wednesday briefing, its spokesperson said. The spokesperson earlier said the agency expected a “detailed discussion” about circulating variants in China, and globally.
Last month, Reuters reported that the WHO had not received data from China on new Covid-19 hospitalisations since Beijing’s policy shift, prompting some health experts to question whether it might be concealing the extent of its outbreak.
China reported five new Covid-19 deaths for Tuesday, compared with three a day earlier, bringing the official death toll to 5,258 — very low by global standards.
But the toll is widely believed to be much higher. British-based health data firm Airfinity has said about 9,000 people in China are probably dying each day from Covid-19.
There were chaotic scenes at Shanghai’s Zhongshan hospital where patients, many of them elderly, jostled for space on Tuesday in packed halls between makeshift beds where people used oxygen ventilators and got intravenous drips.
With Covid-19 disruptions slowing China’s $17-trillion economy to its lowest growth in nearly half a century, investors are now hoping policymakers will intervene to counter the slide.
China’s yuan hovered at a four-month high against the dollar on Wednesday, after its finance minister pledged to step up fiscal expansion this year, days after the central bank said it would implement more policy support for the economy.
Booking boom
Despite some countries imposing restrictions on Chinese visitors, interest in outbound travel from the world’s most populous country is cranking up, state media reported.
Bookings for international flights from China have risen by 145% year-on-year in recent days, the government-run China Daily newspaper reported, citing data from travel platform Trip.com.
The number of international flights to and from China is still a fraction of pre-Covid-19 levels. The government has said it will increase flights and make it easier for people to travel abroad.
Thailand, a major destination for Chinese tourists, is expecting at least five-million Chinese arrivals this year, its tourism authority said on Tuesday.
More than 11-million Chinese tourists visited Thailand in 2019, nearly a third of its total visitors.
But there are already signs that an increase in travel from China could pose problems abroad.
South Korea, which began testing travellers from China for Covid-19 on Monday, said more than a fifth of the test results were positive.
Authorities there were hunting on Wednesday for one Chinese national who tested positive, but went missing while awaiting quarantine. The person, who was not identified, could face up to a year in prison or fines of 10-million won ($7,840).
Reuters
No need to panic, scientist cautions as borders tighten to travellers from China
Chinese state media denounces Covid-19 travel requirements against its visitors
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