China began “chun yun,” the 40-day period of travel for the Lunar New Year on Saturday preparing for a massive surge in travellers and the spread of Covid-19 infections. Prior to the epidemic this time of travel was renowned as the world’s greatest yearly flow of people, according to a Reuters report.
Following historically significant demonstrations against a program that includes regular testing, limited travel, mass lockdowns and severe harm to the world’s No. 2 economy, China has witnessed the rapid demolition of its “zero-Covid” regime over the last month.
However the sudden changes have made many of China’s 1.4 billion people vulnerable to the virus for the first time, sparking a surge of illnesses that is overrunning certain hospitals, depleting the stock of medications in pharmacies and creating lengthy lineups at cemeteries.
Online, there was a range of reactions to that information. Some people praised the freedom to go back to their hometowns and spend the Lunar New Year with their families for the first time in years.
There were widespread worries as well that the massive influx of employees returning to their hometowns might lead to an increase in infections in smaller towns and rural regions, which lack the ICU beds and ventilators needed to handle them.
More rural fever clinics are being opened, according to the authorities, and a “green route” is being established to allow high-risk patients—particularly older individuals with underlying medical conditions—to be transported from villages straight to hospitals with greater levels of care.
Some analysts are now saying the current wave of infections may have already peaked.
China will reopen its border with Hong Kong on Sunday and lift the quarantine requirement for visitors from other countries. As a result many Chinese could again go overseas without fear of being quarantined upon their return.
China invested heavily in a massive PCR testing program to detect and trace Covid-19 infections during the most of the epidemic but attention is now moving to vaccinations and treatments.
Four government ministries released a circular on Saturday signaling a reallocation of financial resources to healthcare.
China is in negotiations with Pfizer to get a license that would permit local pharmaceutical companies to produce and market a generic version of the antiviral medication Paxlovid made by the US company Covid in China.
China’s CanSino Biologics has stated it has started trial production for its Covid mRNA booster vaccine, known as CS-2034, on the vaccination front.
International health experts have been expecting to see more over a million fatalities since they feel Beijing’s restrictive definition of Covid deaths did not accurately reflect the full toll.
