Tag: Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

Flowers, Fresh Fish and Movies: China Is Spending Again, Cautiously

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In downtown Nanjing, China, a fishmonger sold a lot more ribbon fish than usual for Lunar New Year family gatherings two weeks ago. A florist in a run-down shopping mall on the south side of the city sold more roses. But a lamp vendor a few steps away in the mall has seen no recovery in sales. And at an Infiniti car dealership on Nanjing’s edge, customer visits have jumped 20 or 30 percent, but have not yet translated into extra car sales. “The economic impact of the epidemic lingers…

In China’s Covid Fog, Deaths of Scholars Offer a Clue

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October 2022 Wang Linfang,92, molecular biologist Four members of China’s two most prestigious academic institutions died in October – in line with the average in recent years. Peng Yigang, 90 Chen Jisheng, 90 Qian Zhengying, 99 These are some of the country’s most decorated scientists. The academies publish obituaries to memorialize their contributions. Xie Sishen, 80, physicist specializing in nanotechnologies Tang Youqi, 102 Yang Shuzi, 89 Wang Wencai, 96, world-renowned plant taxonomist In November, Covid cases surged across the country. Shen Qihan, 100 Huang Kezhi, 95 Then, on Dec. 8,…

China’s Covid Tsunami Recedes, Bringing Relief, Grief and Anxiety

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When China abruptly abandoned “zero Covid,” accelerating an onslaught of infections and deaths, many feared a prolonged tide rippling from cities into villages. Now, two months later, the worst seems to have passed, and the government is eager to shift attention to economic recovery. Doctors who were mobilized across China to treat a rush of Covid patients say in phone interviews that the number of patients they are now seeing has fallen. Towns and villages that had hunkered down under the surge of infections and funerals are stirring to life.…

They Poured Their Savings Into Homes That Were Never Built

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To Tang Chao, the apartment in northeast China was where he and his wife were going to start a new life together. They put down tens of thousands of dollars for it. But months past its scheduled completion, a concrete shell with wiring protruding from the walls and piles of dirt on the floor was all there was to show for the expense. Soon, even their marriage unraveled. In another city, a man bought a space for a grocery business he thought would help give his young son a better…

China Celebrates Lunar New Year After ‘Zero Covid’ With Caution

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Sheng Chun had not visited his parents in their mountain village in southern China for more than three years because China’s “zero Covid” restrictions made travel difficult. Then the country abandoned its stringent pandemic rules, and he decided to take a long-anticipated road trip. With his son and wife, Mr. Sheng, 43, embarked on a two-week journey from Beijing that would cover more than 1,000 miles, through cultural spots like a Ming dynasty village and temples, then finally home for the Lunar New Year. He hoped to later drive his…

China’s Abrupt Reversal of ‘Zero Covid’

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This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email transcripts@nytimes.com with any questions. [MUSIC PLAYING] sabrina tavernise From “The New York Times,” I’m Sabrina Tavernise. And this is “The Daily.” For nearly three years, China had one of the lowest COVID death rates in the world thanks to its strict but effective policy of zero-COVID. Last month, the Chinese government suddenly abandoned it. Today my colleague Alexandra…

China’s Population Falls, Heralding a Demographic Crisis

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The world’s most populous country has reached a pivotal moment: China’s population has begun to shrink, after a steady, yearslong decline in its birthrate that experts say will be irreversible. The government said on Tuesday that 9.56 million people were born in China in 2022, while 10.41 million people died. It was the first time deaths had outnumbered births in China since the early 1960s, when the Great Leap Forward, Mao Zedong’s failed economic experiment, led to widespread famine and death. Births were down from 10.6 million in 2021, the…

Covid Workers in China Clash With Police Over Unpaid Wages, Layoffs

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After China’s abrupt reversal of “zero Covid” restrictions, the nation’s vast machinery of virus surveillance and testing collapsed, even as infections and deaths surged. Now, the authorities face another problem: Angry pandemic-control workers demanding wages and jobs. In the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing, hundreds of workers locked in a pay dispute with a Covid test kit manufacturer hurled objects at police officers in riot gear, who held up shields as they retreated. Standing on stocks of inventory, protesters kicked and tossed boxes of rapid antigen tests on to the…

China Reports Nearly 60,000 Covid Deaths Since Lifting Restrictions

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China said on Saturday that it had recorded nearly 60,000 fatalities from the coronavirus in the month since the country lifted its strict “zero Covid” policy and accelerated an outbreak that is believed to have infected millions of people. It was the first time China had disclosed a significant amount of Covid-related deaths since the pandemic began. Until Saturday, it had reported a total of only 5,241 Covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic. China has faced mounting criticism from other countries and from the World Health Organization for…

Online Anger Over China’s Covid Pivot Shows Widening Social Split

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Tao Siliang, a member of China’s Communist elite, recently criticized Sima Nan’s attacks for contradicting the party’s new direction. On Thursday, Weibo, a social media site, moved quickly to shut down or suspend more than 1,000 accounts, including that of a prominent nationalist, Kong Qingdong, for waging personal attacks against experts and scholars. “At this moment, what we need most is to abide by the 44-year-old parable: ‘Look forward in unity,’ do not challenge, tear apart, especially denounce or abuse,” the official newspaper of Zhejiang Province, in China’s east, wrote…