In China, Xi Jinping is frustrated by the acceleration of Covid-19
China’s President Xi Jinping ordered on Monday as it faces a surge in infections after abandoning its zero-Covid policy “build a fortification” against virus for “protect” He lives in China.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, China has implemented strict measures protecting those most at risk and those with few vaccinations. The government ended the policy and most of the restrictions on December 7, sparking growing anger among the population and a major impact on the country’s economy. Since then, the virus has been spreading rapidly and the number of cases has been increasing, raising fears of high mortality among the elderly, who are particularly vulnerable.
Many crematoria interviewed by AFP reported an unusually high number of bodies to be cremated in recent days. This situation is largely ignored by the Chinese media. Hospitals are also crowded, and flu medicines are harder to find in pharmacies.
“Covid-19 prevention and control in China faces a new situation”, Xi Jinping was quoted as saying by state broadcaster CCTV on Monday. It is the Beijing strongman’s first public comment since the unexpected rejection of most health measures. “We need to conduct a more careful patriotic health campaign (…) and make a strong stand against the epidemic”Xi Jinping ordered without elaborating.
One million people are at risk
According to the estimates of a number of Western studies, the lifting of restrictions in this way could lead to the death of about one million people in the coming months. China announced on Sunday that it will no longer publish statistics on Covid-19. They have been widely criticized for being completely out of step with the current wave of epidemics hitting the country.
Previously, almost mandatory PCR tests allowed reliable monitoring of the epidemic trend, but infected people now conduct self-tests at home and rarely report the results to authorities, preventing them from having reliable numbers.
According to an official report, the most populous country on the planet has recorded only six deaths from Covid-19 since restrictions were lifted. According to many experts, this number is largely underestimated.
Unusual official statistics
In recent days, the Chinese have noticed a clear discrepancy between the official statistics and the pollution and even death of a large number of their relatives. The great metropolis of Canton (South), with a population of 19 million, also announced a postponement. “After January 10” funeral ceremonies.
Another source of controversy: under the authorities’ new methodology, only people who die of respiratory failure linked to Covid-19 are now considered dead from the disease.
But some local governments are beginning to speculate on the extent of the outbreak. Health authorities in Zhejiang (East), south of Shanghai, ruled on Sunday that the number of daily pollution cases in the province of 65 million people has exceeded one million. According to the information provided by a municipal official referring to the official press, in the city of Qingdao (East) with a population of 10 million, half a million residents are infected every day. Authorities in the capital Beijing counted on Saturday “Many infected people” and called “Do everything possible to improve recovery rates and reduce mortality”.
