Tag: COVID-19 Pandemic

Millions Travel in China in 1st Big Autumn Holiday Since End of Zero-COVID

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HONG KONG —  Many millions of Chinese tourists are expected to travel within their country, splurging on hotels, tours, attractions and meals in a boost to the economy during the 8-day autumn holiday period that began Friday. This year’s holiday began with the Mid-Autumn Festival on Friday and also includes the Oct. 1 National Day. The public holidays end Oct. 6. Typically hundreds of millions of Chinese travel at home and overseas during such holidays. The eight-day-long holiday is the longest week of public holidays since COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were…

Chinese Man Who Reported on COVID to Be Released After 3 Years

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Hong Kong —  Chinese authorities were preparing Sunday to release a man who disappeared three years ago after publicizing videos of overcrowded hospitals and bodies during the COVID-19 outbreak, a relative and another person familiar with his case said. Fang Bin and other members of the public who were dubbed citizen journalists posted details of the pandemic in early 2020 on the internet and social media, embarrassing Chinese officials who faced criticism for failing to control the outbreak. The last video Fang, a seller of traditional Chinese clothing, posted on…

US Set to Lift COVID-19 Testing Requirements for Travelers From China

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Washington —  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set to end on Friday mandatory COVID-19 tests for travelers from China, joining other countries in dropping the requirements, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters. Last week, Japan dropped a requirement that everyone take a test for the virus upon arrival from China. The source told Reuters the United States would continue to monitor cases in China and around the world. The U.S. decision was reported earlier by the Washington Post. The CDC did not immediately…

Hong Kong Ends Final COVID-19 Mandate

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Hong Kong’s leader says the city will end its COVID-19 mask mandate Wednesday, March 1. Chief Executive John Lee told reporters Tuesday the mandate would be lifted in all public spaces, but added that high-risk venues such as hospitals and nursing homes can make their own decision on whether to impose mandatory mask requirements. The Chinese territory first imposed the strict mask mandate in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and was one of the last places in the world to maintain such a policy. The neighboring territory…

US Ambassador: China Should Be Candid About COVID Origins

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The U.S. ambassador to China says Beijing needs to be more forthcoming about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, a day after reports that the U.S. Energy Department concluded the outbreak likely began because of a Chinese laboratory leak. Nicholas Burns told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event by video link Monday that China needs to “be more honest about what happened three years ago in Wuhan with the origin of the COVID-19 crisis.” Wuhan is the Chinese city where the first cases of the novel coronavirus were reported in…

No New Variants Since China Ended Zero-COVID, Study Finds

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Paris —  No new variants of COVID-19 emerged in Beijing in the weeks after China ended its zero-COVID policy late last year, a new study said on Wednesday. China saw an explosion of infections after it started to lift its strict pandemic measures in early December, sparking fears the world’s most populous country could become a fertile breeding ground for new, more transmissible or severe strains. More than a dozen countries promptly imposed fresh restrictions on travelers from China, also citing a lack of transparency about the scale of the…

 In Rural China, Shortages of Treatment, Doctors Prove Deadly

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WASHINGTON —  Liu Shihui, a human rights lawyer in California who grew up in Xishan Village in Inner Mongolia, learned of the dire situation in neighboring villages from his family when he called on January 23 with Lunar New Year greetings. “In previous winters, it was normal if one or two or three or five people died,” he told VOA Mandarin. “This wave of epidemics killed more than 20 people in about a month in the neighboring village. It is quite alarming.” Jie Lijian, a human rights activist who also…

Bali Welcomes 1st Flight From China as COVID Rules Ease

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Denpasar, Indonesia —  A direct flight from China landed in Indonesia’s resort island of Bali for the first time in nearly three years Sunday after the route was suspended due to the pandemic. At least 210 people were on board the chartered plane operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air from Shenzhen in China’s southern Guangdong province. Some Chinese tourists who arrived at the airport in Bali said they were glad to have the chance to travel internationally again after China ended its strict COVID-19 restrictions. “I feel very happy and relaxed.…

China Says COVID Outbreak Has Infected 80% of Population

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Beijing —  The possibility of a big COVID-19 rebound in China over the next two or three months is remote because 80% of China’s population has been infected, a prominent government scientist said on Saturday. The mass movement of people during the ongoing Lunar New Year holiday might spread the pandemic, boosting infections in some areas, but a second COVID wave is unlikely in the near term, Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said on the Weibo social media platform. Hundreds of millions…

Fireworks, Flowers in Wuhan for Lunar New Year, but Grief Lingers

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Wuhan, China —  Three years after a once-mysterious virus plunged the Chinese city of Wuhan into a terrifying lockdown, residents are celebrating the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit with fireworks, flowers and offerings to the loved ones they have lost to COVID-19. But while many stocked Saturday on colorful blooms at the bustling flower market to welcome the Lunar New Year and enjoy the Spring Festival, others had a more somber reason: to mourn loved ones lost in the most recent wave of cases. “I have friends and…