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Epidemiologist Eric Feigel-Ding shared a video on Monday documenting the horrors of the coronavirus in Chinese hospitals.
Aisles full of corpses in northeastern China. Corona patients are huddled together in a room, some even lying on the floor. All are connected to ventilators.
Videos shared by epidemiologist Eric Feigel-Ding, 39, on Twitter on Monday illustrate this. Corona is terrifying in China’s hospitals. “This is just the beginning,” the scientist writes and warns of millions of deaths.
The number of infections in the Middle Kingdom has exploded after the Chinese leadership abruptly reversed its previous strict zero-covid policy. Even as the number of infections continues to rise, authorities are sticking to easing restrictions. Gone are the days when people had to go to government quarantine facilities.
Test sites should be changed
However, China is ill-prepared for the wave of corona cases: underfunded hospitals lack the capacity to take in large numbers of patients. Additionally, millions of seniors are still not fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Even if the vaccination campaign starts immediately, it will not immediately stop the massive corona wave. Vaccines available in China take up to four weeks to become effective. Foreign covid vaccines are not allowed. There is a Chinese mRNA vaccine called “Awcorna”, but it has not yet been approved in its home country and has only been vaccinated in Indonesia.
Going to work with corona symptoms
In the eastern city of Suzhou, state media reported that officials rushed to turn testing sites into makeshift flu treatment centers. Other cities, including the capital Beijing, have offered free medical kits to some residents and urged patients to seek online advice rather than visit a hospital, according to media reports.
In one of China’s biggest cities, people with coronavirus symptoms can return to work “absolutely normally” as part of the reopening course. The “mild symptom” state, party and civil servants in the southern city of Chongqing, with a population of 32 million, “can work normally after taking personal protective measures according to their physical condition and the needs of their work,” the newspaper said. Chongqing Daily » on Monday, citing a statement from city officials.
In addition, residents were asked not to undergo “unnecessary” testing. Even a negative test result no longer needs to be submitted. Exceptions apply only to certain facilities such as nursing homes, schools and prisons.
History of China’s Zero Covid Policy
In the eastern province of Zhejiang, a vital economic hub of more than 60 million people, it was also told on Sunday that people with mild symptoms “can continue to work if necessary and they take personal protective measures”.
In mid-December, after nationwide protests and a collapse in foreign trade, the People’s Republic began to move away from the zero-covid policy. Across the country, quarantine rules and testing requirements were initially relaxed or repealed and mass closures ended.
After that, the authorities also announced the end of the state’s Corona program, which had severely restricted people’s freedom of movement for two-and-a-half years. Now the sudden opening looks like revenge. (nad/AFP)
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