A week after China began rolling back it’s tough COVID rules, the World Health Organization has warned of ‘very difficult’ times ahead. According to state media, patients admitted to hospitals in Beijing are raising concerns about the spread of the infection.
Following historic demonstrations against sweeping lockdown that strained the minds of millions while controlling the spread, China announced significant adjustments to testing and quarantine rules last Wednesday, in line with a world that has mostly reopened.
It is expected that China may be paying the price to protect a population that lacks ‘herd immunity’ and a low vaccination rate among the elderly., a Reuters report said.
WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said at a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday that it is “always very difficult for any country coming out of a situation where you’ve had very, very strict controls,” adding that China was going through a “really terrible and difficult moment.”
The number of official Covid cases in China has been declining in recent weeks, but this has coincided with a decline in testing and is moving increasingly in line with the situation on the ground.
As per the report of the state news agency, there were 50 serious and critical cases in hospital in Beijing and most of them with underlying health conditions. Such numbers are very small compared to China’s population of 1.4 billion but there are growing fears that this is just the beginning of the next wave.
It has been reported that there were no Covid-related deaths since December 3. After which, China decided to ease the zero covid curbs.
It is also expected that there will be a boom in the number of people moving ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays that will commence in January 2023.
As per the National Health Commission, the second COVID -19 booster doses will be rolled out for high-risk groups and senior citizens over the age of 60. As many people no longer take part in testing, it also announced that it would stop reporting new asymptomatic COVID-19 infections.
Only 5,235 COVID-related deaths have been reported in China in the three years since the pandemic first appeared in the city of Wuhan.
Top senior Chinese officials have been recommending the idea of self-care in recent weeks to ward off the virus.