Chinese hospitals are struggling. Capacity is full. Outside a hospital in Beijing, a reporter from France 24 talks to relatives who cannot admit their sick family members because the hospital is full. – He has no strength left, the fever won’t go down, says a woman about her husband. – We can’t stay here, there are no available beds. There are few doctors here and they are overworked. In the province of Zhejiang, not far from the big city of Shanghai, one million Chinese are infected with the corona virus every day. According to calculations, it will rise to 2 million infected every day by 1 January, writes voanews.com. The hyper-rapid spread of the coronavirus means that on a national basis there are now around 250 million infected Chinese, writes France 24. The French broadcaster has reviewed official reports on infection in the Chinese healthcare system. Vaccine shortage What makes the situation more serious in China than in most other countries is that China did not prioritize vaccination of the population. The situation for many elderly people in particular is dramatic. Even the seriously ill are turned away because hospitals are full. The picture is from a hospital in Shanghai on 23 December. Photo: HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP Chinese health authorities prioritized testing and closing down the community, rather than vaccination. Many fear that “a tsunami” of infection will hit Chinese society at the start of the new year. WHO very concerned The World Health Organization is calling for transparency from China and is asking the country’s health authorities to share information about the situation. – We continue to request China to share all data about covid in China, says the head of the WHO Teodros Adhanom Ghebreyesu. He appeals to China to inform about hospital admissions and about how many must have intensive care, the UN writes on its website. The WHO is very concerned because many people are not vaccinated. China invested in testing and shutting down society for a long time. The picture shows an elderly person in Nantong being vaccinated. Photo: AP – WHO supports China in focusing especially on vaccinating the population that has the greatest risk of becoming seriously ill, says Teodros. – All hypotheses about how the pandemic originated are also on the table, says the WHO chief. Appeal from Xi China’s President Xi Jinping says measures should be taken to protect people’s lives. It is his first statement about covid-19 after the country eased the strict infection control restrictions, and almost opened completely from one day to the next. “We should launch a patriotic health campaign in a more targeted manner, strengthen society’s defenses to prevent and control the epidemic, and protect people’s lives, safety and health in an appropriate manner,” Xi said on Monday, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. Queues at the morgues In the Chinese capital, the streets are rarely empty. But today many people stay at home. The infection makes it difficult to get enough people to work. The image of body bags at a funeral home in Chongqing, China. The photo was taken by Reuters on 22 December. Photo: SOCIAL MEDIA / Reuters Everything from pharmacies to morgues are struggling to staff the shifts, which are necessary to be able to keep society going. From last weekend until now, the news agency Reuters has documented queues at the crematoria. Some have been asked to deliver their dead family members themselves. The cold rooms in the basements of several hospitals must also be full. Believes the healthcare system has not had time On 7 December, after almost three years of zero tolerance for infection, China abruptly reversed its infection control policy. Several people have asked whether the country’s leaders have given the healthcare system enough time to prepare. To date, China has had few corona deaths in relation to its population of 1.4 billion. According to the official figures, the number of dead in China is just over 5,000. Calculations made by, among others, the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluations in the USA show that the number could be much higher. The institute believes that one million people in China may die from corona during 2023. Other estimates show both higher and lower figures.
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250 million infected in December – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
