China sees packed ICUs and crematoriums as Covid rises

Covid-19 patients lie on hospital beds in the lobby of a hospital due to extreme shortage of beds. Pic/AFP

Yao Ruyan paced frantically outside the fever clinic of a county hospital in China's industrial Hebei province, 70 kilometres southwest of Beijing. Her mother-in-law had Covid-19 and needed urgent medical care, but all hospitals nearby were full. "They say there's no bed here," she barked into her phone.

As China grapples with its first-ever national Covid-19 wave, emergency wards in small cities and towns southwest of Beijing are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, relatives of sick people are searching for open beds, and patients are slumped on benches in hospital corridors and lying on floors for a lack of beds. However, now markets are bustling and diners are packed, even as the virus is spreading in other parts of China. The headlines in state media said China is "starting to resume normal life."

The Chinese government has reported only seven Covid-19 deaths since restrictions were loosened dramatically on December 7, bringing the country's total death toll to 5,241. Experts have forecast between a million and 2 million deaths in China next year, and the WHO warned that Beijing's way of counting would "underestimate the true death toll."

Also read: RT-PCR test mandatory for arrivals from China, four other countries: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya

Almost 250 million people in China may have been affected by Covid in just 20 days after the "zero-Covid policy" was diluted in the first week of the month, according to an alleged leaked government documents circulating on social media.

HK announces planned border re-opening

Hong Kong's leader on Saturday announced it would aim to re-open its borders with the mainland by mid-January. Speaking at a conference, Hong Kong Chief executive John Lee said authorities would aim to "gradually, orderly, and fully" re-open all entry points between the two sides, and coordinate with the government to manage the flow of people. At present, individuals hoping to enter through Hong Kong can only do so through the city's airport or two checkpoints. Entrants into the mainland must also undergo a period of hotel quarantine.

5,241
Number of deaths as per the Chinese government

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