Italy has become the first country in Europe to make it obligatory for people arriving from China to be tested for Covid-19 following Beijing moving to reopen its borders after lifting some of its toughest anti-Covid restrictions. The move, which sees Italy join a number of countries closer to China in changing its travel policy, comes amid concerns over the potential for new variants to emerge during fresh outbreaks of the virus in China and quickly spread overseas. Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and India are among the Asian states that…
Tag: Infectious diseases
China’s dropping of zero-Covid rule sparks concern about new variants – video report
China is to drop some of its toughest coronavirus restrictions – including scrapping quarantine for travellers – ending the government’s zero-Covid policy. Experts are watching nervously to see how this may affect variants and their global spread. Japan and India are among the countries to have introduced measures to prevent an influx of cases. Beijing’s decision on Monday to drop quarantine for overseas visitors from 8 January has prompted concerns about the potential for new variants beyond China’s borders The Guardian
How accurate are China’s Covid death numbers?
The sudden end to China’s controversial zero-Covid strategy caught the country’s fragile health system unprepared, with hospitals scrambling for beds, pharmacies on the hunt for drugs and authorities racing to build special clinics. On Thursday, a senior World Health Organisation official said China may be struggling to keep a tally of Covid-19 infections as it experiences a big spike in cases. Experts say China could face more than a million Covid deaths next year. But despite evidence of overwhelmed hospital and crematoriums, China’s government has fewer than 10 Covid deaths…
China ‘behind the curve’ in reporting Covid surge, WHO says
China may be struggling to keep a tally of Covid-19 infections as it experiences a big spike in cases, a senior World Health Organization official has said, amid concerns about a lack of data from the country. Official figures from China have become an unreliable guide after the country of 1.4 billion people this month began dismantling its unpopular zero-Covid lockdown and testing regime. The abrupt change caught a fragile health system unprepared, with hospitals scrambling for beds and blood, pharmacies for drugs and authorities racing to build special clinics.…
China is on the brink of its first major Covid surge. How it copes will affect us all | Devi Sridhar
The Chinese government has changed its approach from “zero Covid” to “living with Covid”. This is largely because the virus has become too transmissible to contain: new variants have emerged that cause one person to infect an estimated 16 others. As part of this shift towards “living with Covid”, entire cities are no longer in lockdown, restrictions have been lifted on domestic travel and people who test positive can now isolate at home instead of at government facilities. Testing has become voluntary, and asymptomatic cases of Covid-19 are no longer…
China Covid infection surge puts end of global emergency in doubt – WHO
It may be too early to declare the global end of the Covid-19 pandemic emergency because of a potentially devastating wave to come in China, according to several leading scientists and World Health Organization advisers. Their views represent a shift since China began to dismantle its zero-Covid policy last week after a spike in infections and unprecedented public protests. Projections have suggested the world’s second-largest economy could face more than a million deaths in 2023 after the abrupt change in course. China’s zero-Covid approach kept infections and deaths comparatively low…
China rushes to boost intensive care beds, doctors and stocks of medicine as Covid surges
Chinese authorities are rushing to boost the number of intensive care beds and health workers and increase medication supplies as Covid-19 surges through the country. Since the abrupt dismantling of the stringent zero-Covid regime, cases have skyrocketed in China. A full picture of the impact is difficult to gauge. Authorities have conceded it is “impossible” for the testing system to keep track, and the narrow parameters for attributing deaths to the virus mean the official count – fewer than 10 this week – is at odds with widespread anecdotal reports…
China’s cities fall quiet amid warning of three Covid waves over winter
Streets in major Chinese cities were eerily quiet on Sunday as people opted to stay home to protect themselves from a surge in Covid-19 cases that has hit urban centres from north to south as officials warn of more waves to come. The latest official figures continue to show a relatively low number of new daily cases, however concerns linger over the accuracy of the data amid reports of over-burdened funeral homes and crematoriums. The country’s chief epidemiologist has also warned that China is in the first of an expected…
From zero-tolerance into the unknown – a visual guide to three years of Covid in China
Across China Covid testing stations are being dismantled. Barricades have been brought down. A tracking app used to monitor the health the country’s 1.4 billion people has been switched off. People have been given freedoms they haven’t known for years. At the same time, queues have formed outside hospitals and some medicines are in short supply. Infections, along with worry and confusion over how to live with the once-feared virus, are spreading. The scenes would have been hard to imagine a month ago. The sudden turn away from three years…
Relief and confusion: inside China as the country hurtles from virus-free to mass infections
The easing of Covid restrictions over the past week has happened almost as quickly as the abrupt measures to lock down cities at the beginning of the pandemic. At first I was sceptical and thought the situation would only go back to how it was in the second half of 2020, when China stayed mostly clear of infections with only mild restrictions in place, even though the rest of the world was being bombarded by the virus. But almost immediately: we are no longer required to show our health code…