Faced with a surge in COVID-19 cases, China is setting up more intensive care facilities and trying to strengthen hospitals as Beijing rolls back anti-virus controls that confine millions to their homes, crush economic growth and spark protests. .
President Xi Jinping’s government is officially committed to halting transmission of the virus, the last major country to try. But the latest moves suggest the ruling Communist Party will tolerate more cases without quarantines or travel or business closures as its “zero-COVID” strategy finalizes.
A cabinet meeting on Thursday called for a “total mobilization” of hospitals, including adding staff to ensure their “combat effectiveness” and increasing supplies of medicines, according to state media. Officials were told to monitor the health of everyone over the age of 65 in their area.
It is unclear by how much the number of infections has risen since Beijing ended mandatory once-a-day testing in many areas last week. But interviews and social media accounts say there are outbreaks in businesses and schools across the country. Some restaurants and other businesses have closed because too many employees are sick.
The virus testing site in Beijing’s Runfeng Shuishang neighborhood closed because all its employees were infected, the neighborhood government said on its social media account on Saturday. “Please be patient,” he said.
Official case numbers are falling but no longer cover much of the population after mandatory testing ended Wednesday in many areas. That was part of the dramatic changes that confirmed that Beijing was gradually trying to join the United States and other governments in ending travel and other restrictions and trying to live with the virus.
On Sunday, the government reported 10,815 new cases, including 8,477 without symptoms. That was basically a quarter of the previous week’s daily peak above 40,000, but it only represents people getting tested after being admitted to hospitals or for jobs in schools and other higher-risk sites.
The western province of Shaanxi has reserved 22,000 hospital beds for COVID-19 and is ready to increase its intensive care capacity by 20% by converting other beds, Shanghai news outlet The Paper reported. , citing Yun Chunfu, an official with the provincial health commission. . Yun said cities are “accelerating upgrading” of hospitals for “critically ill patients.” “Each city should designate a hospital with a strong comprehensive force and a high level of treatment” for COVID-19 cases, Yu was quoted as saying at a press conference.
China has 138,000 intensive care beds, the director-general of the Office of Medical Administration of the National Health Commission, Jiao Yahui, said at a press conference on Friday. That’s less than one in 10,000 people.
Health resources are distributed unequally. Hospital beds are concentrated in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities on the prosperous east coast. The cabinet statement on Thursday told officials to ensure rural areas have “fair access” to treatment and medicine.
China’s controls kept its infection rate low but crushed already weak economic growth and drew complaints about the rising human cost. The official death toll is 5,235, compared to 1.1 million for the United States.
China’s total official case count of 363,072 rose nearly 50% from the October 1 level after a series of outbreaks across the country.
Protests broke out on November 25 after 10 people died in a fire in Urumqi, in the northwest. Internet users asked if the firefighters or people trying to escape were blocked by locked doors or other anti-virus measures. Authorities denied that, but the disaster became the focus of public anger.
Xi’s government vowed to reduce cost and disruption after the economy contracted 2.6% from the previous quarter in the three months ending in June. That was after Shanghai and other industrial hubs shut down for up to two months to combat outbreaks.
Forecasters say the economy is probably contracting in the current quarter. Imports fell 10.9% from a year earlier in November in a sign of weak demand. Some forecasters have cut their outlook for annual growth below 3%, less than half last year’s robust 8.1% expansion.
It is not clear if any of the changes were a response to the protests.
In a show of official confidence, the state media meeting with leaders of the International Monetary Fund and other financial institutions showed No. 2 leader Premier Li Keqiang without masks last week in the eastern city of Huangshan.
Previously, Xi skipped a photo call with the leaders of Russia and Central Asia during a summit in Uzbekistan in September at which others did not wear masks.
Still, health experts and economists say “zero COVID” is likely to stick around at least until mid-2023 because millions of seniors need to get vaccinated before restrictions that keep most visitors out are lifted. from China.
The government last week launched a campaign to vaccinate the elderly, a process that could take months.
Experts warn that there is still a chance the ruling party could reverse course and re-impose restrictions if it worries hospitals will be overwhelmed.
