CHENGDU (Reuters) – China’s hospitals and funeral homes were under intense pressure on Wednesday as a wave of the new coronavirus depleted resources. Meanwhile, the scale of the outbreak and doubts about official data have led some countries to consider new travel rules for Chinese citizens. Visitor.
In a sudden policy change, China this month began dismantling the world’s toughest COVID regime of lockdowns and mass testing, putting its battered economy on track for a full reopening next year. .
The lifting of restrictions came after widespread protests against them, according to some international health experts, as COVID spread largely unchecked, infecting millions of people a day. It means that there is a possibility that
The speed at which China, the world’s last major country moving toward endemicizing the virus, is scrapping COVID rules is overwhelming its fragile health system.
China reported three new COVID-related deaths on Tuesday, up from one on Monday. This number is inconsistent with what funeral homes are reporting and the experience of much less populated countries after reopening.
Staff at Huaxi, a large hospital in the southwestern city of Chengdu, said they were “very busy” with COVID patients.
“I’ve been doing this job for 30 years and it’s been the busiest I’ve ever been,” said an ambulance driver outside the hospital who asked not to be identified.
Long queues formed Tuesday night in and out of the hospital’s emergency department and the adjacent fever clinic. Most of those who arrived by ambulance were given oxygen to help them breathe.
“Almost every patient has COVID,” said one of the emergency department pharmacy staff.
She said hospitals do not have stocks of COVID-specific medicines and can only provide medicines for symptoms such as coughs.
The parking lot around Dongjiao Funeral Home, one of the largest funeral homes in Chengdu, was full. Funeral processions continued incessantly as smoke rose from the crematorium.
“Now we have to do this about 200 times a day,” said one funeral director. “We’re so busy we don’t even have time to eat. It’s been that way ever since we opened. Before, he was about 30 to 50 times a day.”
“Many people have died from COVID,” another worker said.
At the privately owned Nanling, another crematorium in Chengdu, staff were just as busy.
“There have been so many deaths from COVID lately,” said one worker. “The crematoria are all full. You won’t get them until the new year.”
China has said it only counts deaths of COVID patients from pneumonia and respiratory failure as COVID-related.
Zhang Yuhua, an employee at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, said the recent patients were elderly and severely ill with underlying medical conditions. She said the number of patients receiving emergency care had increased from about 100 previously to 450 to 550 per day, according to state media.
A fever clinic at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing was also “full” with elderly patients, according to state media.
Nurses and doctors have been asked to work, and health workers who have retired due to illness in rural areas are being rehired and supported. Some cities are suffering from shortages of medicines.
travel rules
In a big step towards freer travel, China will stop requiring inbound travelers to quarantine from 8 January, officials announced this week.
Hong Kong’s global financial hub said on Wednesday it would scrap most of the last remaining COVID restrictions.
Online searches for flights out of China surged from very low levels on Tuesday, but residents and travel agents said it would still be months before things returned to normal as caution was warranted for now. suggests.
Additionally, some governments were considering adding travel requirements for Chinese tourists.
A US official cited a “lack of transparent data” as the reason.
India, Taiwan and Japan require travelers from mainland China to test negative for COVID, and those who test positive in Japan must undergo a week of quarantine. Tokyo also plans to limit airlines flying more flights to China.
The Philippines was also considering imposing tests.
financial pain
China’s $17 trillion economy is expected to suffer slowing factory output and domestic consumption as workers and shoppers fall ill.
News of the reopening of borders boosted global luxury stocks, but other corners of the market were muted.
U.S. automaker Tesla (TSLA.O) will run a reduced production schedule at its Shanghai factory in January, according to internal schedules seen by Reuters. No reason was given.
Some economists expect China’s growth to bounce back and recover from this year’s slow growth, which is expected to be around 3% for nearly half a century.
Morgan Stanley economists see 5.4% growth in 2023, while Goldman Sachs economists see 5.2%.
Reported by Martin Quin Pollard in Chengdu, Chen Lin in Singapore, Shanghai and Beijing bureaus. By Marius Zaharia.Edited by Lincoln Feast and Christian Schmolinger
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