Time for change: On ending the zero-COVID policy
2 years ago

Time for change: On ending the zero-COVID policy

The Hindu  

After three years of living under the world’s most stringent pandemic restrictions, thousands of people in China have taken to the streets in many cities, calling for an end to lockdowns and the “zero-COVID” policy. The lockdowns, mass testing and quarantining of infected cases and close contacts formed a strategy that helped China emerge faster than any other country out of the first COVID-19 wave, avoiding mass deaths seen in the rest of the world. Rather than continue to devote China’s considerable state capacity towards enforcing lockdowns, an urgent nationwide effort to vaccinate the vulnerable is long overdue. The government fears that opening up with such a large vulnerable population would lead to a collapse of China’s health-care system and damage its credibility, with President Xi having personally backed the zero-COVID approach and framed it as a contrast to the West, which has seen mass COVID deaths.

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History of this topic

China stands alone in its attitude towards the pandemic
10 months, 2 weeks ago

China stands alone in its attitude towards the pandemic

Hindustan Times  

The omicron variant of COVID-19 poses enormous challenges for governments. In America, cases are at three times their previous peak in January 2021, hospitals are as busy as they have ever been and deaths have risen by 40% in two weeks to 1,800 per day. Covid In China: Security guards wearing personal protective equipment amid the Covid-19 pandemic sit at …

China tries to ‘bury the memory’ and trauma of zero-COVID era
1 year ago

China tries to ‘bury the memory’ and trauma of zero-COVID era

Al Jazeera  

A year after Beijing abandoned the policy’s strict lockdowns and endless testing, its failures remain unaddressed. “Doctors and nurses were rushing around everywhere between long lines of patients waiting their turn, and people were even sitting on the floor and against the walls,” Ma, who is 36 and works as a sales representative in China’s northeastern Shandong province, told Al …

No ‘unusual’ virus behind rising Pneumonia cases China has clarified, reveals WHO
1 year, 1 month ago

No ‘unusual’ virus behind rising Pneumonia cases China has clarified, reveals WHO

Firstpost  

Since mid-October 2023, the World Health Organization has been monitoring data from Chinese surveillance systems showing an increase in respiratory illness in children in northern China China has reiterated that no unusual or new pathogens have been detected in the upsurge in child respiratory illnesses in the north, the WHO said on Thursday after putting pressure on Beijing for detailed …

China's pneumonia scare: Transparency please
1 year, 1 month ago

China's pneumonia scare: Transparency please

Live Mint  

China, where covid broke out in November 2019, is in the spotlight again. The World Health Organization has asked the country for details on an increase in respiratory illnesses and reported clusters of pneumonia in children. In a recent statement, the WHO noted an increase in influenza-like ailments compared to the same autumn of the past three years in China’s …

Is COVID making a return to China this winter?
1 year, 1 month ago

Is COVID making a return to China this winter?

Firstpost  

China’s leading respiratory illness expert Zhong Nanshan has warned of a minor COVID-19 surge in the winter and urged the elderly and vulnerable populations to get vaccinated as soon as possible Concerned about an increase of COVID-19 infections in the current winter season, Chinese experts have issued an alert and advised vaccination for vulnerable and old groups. The Chinese Centre …

China on ALERT over likely COVID-19 relapse ahead of winter
1 year, 1 month ago

China on ALERT over likely COVID-19 relapse ahead of winter

India TV News  

COVID-19 alert: Ahead of the winter season, an alert has been sounded across China about the relapse of COVID-19 infections and experts have asked elderly and vulnerable populations to get vaccinated. The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention showed that a total of 209 new severe COVID-19 cases and 24 deaths caused by COVID-19 were reported across the country …

China’s chief epidemiologist who helped drive the anti-COVID fight dies at age 60
1 year, 1 month ago

China’s chief epidemiologist who helped drive the anti-COVID fight dies at age 60

Associated Press  

BANGKOK — Wu Zunyou, an epidemiologist who helped drive the country’s strict zero-COVID measures in China that suspended access to cities and confined millions to their homes, died on Friday. An announcement from China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention about Wu’s death gave no cause, but said that “rescue measures failed.” Wu’s health had been poor. Yet, as China …

Learn from missteps in Covid’s early days
1 year, 7 months ago

Learn from missteps in Covid’s early days

Hindustan Times  

Covid-19 is no longer a public health emergency, the World Health Organization declared last week, roughly 1,200 days after it first learnt of a new coronavirus spreading through Wuhan, China. Still, WHO’s word is a strong determinant in global health discourse and on this count, the agency fell short in its mission, especially in the early days of the pandemic. …

China to remain alert even as WHO declares COVID-19 global emergency over
1 year, 7 months ago

China to remain alert even as WHO declares COVID-19 global emergency over

Firstpost  

A top Chinese health official said that despite the World Health Organisation ending the worldwide emergency designation for COVID-19, the virus is still dangerous and China will continue to monitor it while boosting vaccination rates among high-risk groups. According to Liang Wannian, head of China’s COVID-19 response expert group under the National Health Commission, the warning status being lifted by …

WHO downgrades COVID pandemic, says it’s no longer emergency
1 year, 7 months ago

WHO downgrades COVID pandemic, says it’s no longer emergency

Associated Press  

GENEVA — The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions of people worldwide. The U.N. health agency’s officials said that even though the emergency phase was over, the pandemic hasn’t finished, noting recent spikes in …

World Health Organisation downgrades Covid pandemic: 'No longer global emergency'
1 year, 7 months ago

World Health Organisation downgrades Covid pandemic: 'No longer global emergency'

Hindustan Times  

The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies worldwide and killed at least 7 million people worldwide. “It’s with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “That …

COVID-19 is no longer a global emergency, World Health Organization says
1 year, 7 months ago

COVID-19 is no longer a global emergency, World Health Organization says

LA Times  

The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed at least 7 million people worldwide. “It’s with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “That does not …

Many Asian Nations Seeing Covid Rise, India, Singapore on List. Are Countries Planning Curbs?
1 year, 8 months ago

Many Asian Nations Seeing Covid Rise, India, Singapore on List. Are Countries Planning Curbs?

News 18  

A recent spike in Covid-19 cases is seen among Asian nations with the fresh wave exerting pressure on the healthcare systems. India, on the other hand, has touched daily cases of 10,000, the highest in nearly eight months, while Indonesia’s caseload is near a four-month high, Bloomberg reported. Medical experts have said the virus’ new XBB.1.16 variant could be driving …

Ignoring experts, China’s sudden zero-COVID exit cost lives
1 year, 9 months ago

Ignoring experts, China’s sudden zero-COVID exit cost lives

Associated Press  

BEIJING — When China suddenly scrapped onerous zero-COVID measures in December, the country wasn’t ready for a massive onslaught of cases, with hospitals turning away ambulances and crematoriums burning bodies around the clock. Chinese state media claimed the decision to open up was based on “scientific analysis and shrewd calculation,” and “by no means impulsive.” But in reality, China’s ruling …

Ignoring experts, China’s sudden zero-COVID exit cost lives
1 year, 9 months ago

Ignoring experts, China’s sudden zero-COVID exit cost lives

Associated Press  

BEIJING — When China suddenly scrapped onerous zero-COVID measures in December, the country wasn’t ready for a massive onslaught of cases. “It wasn’t a sound public health decision at all,” said a China CDC official, declining to be named to speak candidly on a sensitive matter. At a mid-April internal panel discussion recently made public by the Beijing-based Center for …

DC Edit | Covid isn't over, be cautious
1 year, 9 months ago

DC Edit | Covid isn't over, be cautious

Deccan Chronicle  

After lying low for quite some time, the Covid-19 virus has started rearing its head again in the country. The daily caseload which came down to two digits towards the end of the last year has of late been crossing 1,000; as per the health ministry data, India logged 1,300 new cases, the highest in 140 days, on Thursday while …

Ignoring experts, China’s sudden zero-COVID exit cost lives
1 year, 9 months ago

Ignoring experts, China’s sudden zero-COVID exit cost lives

LA Times  

An elderly patient uses a ventilator in the hallway of the emergency ward in Beijing in January. Chinese state media claimed the decision to open up was based on “scientific analysis and shrewd calculation,” and “by no means impulsive.” But in reality, China’s ruling Communist Party ignored repeated efforts by top medical experts to kick-start exit plans until it was …

China opens borders to tourists after 3 years of restrictions
1 year, 9 months ago

China opens borders to tourists after 3 years of restrictions

The Hindu  

China will, starting March 15, 2023, fully reopen its borders and allow tourists back into the country after three years of pandemic restrictions. Foreigners “with valid visas issued before March 28, 2020 will be allowed to enter China”, the National Immigration Administration said in a notice, adding that it had “decided to adjust policies of foreigners’ visas and entry from …

’China’s Zero Covid Policy completely…’: What Premiere Li Qiang had to say
1 year, 9 months ago

’China’s Zero Covid Policy completely…’: What Premiere Li Qiang had to say

Live Mint  

China got its new Premiere Li Qiang, who delivered his first speech on Monday. During his speech, Qiang vehemently defended the unenviable Zero Covid Policy brought about by the Xi Jinping government in the East Asian country. Qiang said the Zero Covid strategy followed by the country for over three years which hurt its economic growth also led to public …

U.S. to relax COVID testing rules for travelers from China as early as Friday
1 year, 9 months ago

U.S. to relax COVID testing rules for travelers from China as early as Friday

LA Times  

The Biden administration is preparing to relax COVID-19 testing restrictions for travelers from China as soon as Friday, according to two people familiar with the decision. The restrictions were put in place Dec. 28 and took effect Jan. 5 amid the surge in China after the government sharply eased pandemic restrictions and as U.S. health officials expressed concerns that their …

China says 200 million treated for COVID since November, pandemic ‘decisively’ beaten
1 year, 10 months ago

China says 200 million treated for COVID since November, pandemic ‘decisively’ beaten

LA Times  

Commuters during the morning rush hour in the central business district of Beijing on Thursday. China says more than 200 million of its citizens have been diagnosed and treated for COVID-19 since it lifted strict containment measures beginning in November. With 800,000 of the most critically ill patients having recovered, China has “decisively beaten” the pandemic, according to notes from …

China’s economic activity expands for the first time in months as Covid ‘exit wave’ ends
1 year, 10 months ago

China’s economic activity expands for the first time in months as Covid ‘exit wave’ ends

CNN  

Hong Kong CNN — Economic activity in China has expanded for the first time in four months as disruptions caused by the abrupt end of its zero-Covid policy appears to be fading. Last week, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report that China’s current wave of Covid outbreak was “nearing an end.” The official PMI …

COVID-19 update: China faces challenge due to flawed containment policies, ineffective vaccines, says Report
1 year, 10 months ago

COVID-19 update: China faces challenge due to flawed containment policies, ineffective vaccines, says Report

India TV News  

China COVID-19 update : China is facing a significant challenge in the form of COVID-19, due to the Chinese Communist Party's "flawed and regressive containment policies and ineffective domestically produced vaccines," GeoPolitica.info reported. China's COVID-19 containment strategy has affected Chinese people and has caused major discontent among people in the country, as per the GeoPolitica.info report. Vaccines manufactured in China …

China says Covid-19 deaths, severe cases have fallen over 70% since peak
1 year, 10 months ago

China says Covid-19 deaths, severe cases have fallen over 70% since peak

India Today  

Critically ill COVID-19 cases in China are down 72% from a peak early this month while daily deaths among COVID-19 patients in hospitals have dropped 79% from their peak, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. The CDC said the number of critically ill patients in China peaked on Jan. 4 at 128,000 cases and fell to …

‘In Dec 2022, new Covid infections exceeded 70 lakhs per day’, says China
1 year, 10 months ago

‘In Dec 2022, new Covid infections exceeded 70 lakhs per day’, says China

Live Mint  

China Covid case update: The Chinese authorities have informed that the daily number of Covid cases in the east Asian country had hit a peak of 7 million reported cases per day during December last year. The figures published in China's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention website said, "around December 22, 2022, the number of infected people and the …

As schools are set to resume face-to-face classes in Hong Kong, mainland Chinese students face adjustment problems
1 year, 10 months ago

As schools are set to resume face-to-face classes in Hong Kong, mainland Chinese students face adjustment problems

Firstpost  

Parents and teachers have called for a range of support services for children who may face adjustment problems New Delhi: Thousands of children who live in mainland China and attend Hong Kong schools will return to their campuses for the first time in three years, parents and teachers of students said. According to a report in the South China Morning …

Decoding China’s COVID-19 Policy U-Turn
1 year, 11 months ago

Decoding China’s COVID-19 Policy U-Turn

The Diplomat  

On November 30, several districts in the southern hub metropolis Guangzhou took the lead in lifting a large number of COVID-19-related lockdowns, as well as suspending testing requirements. In face of this, local and provincial administrations – in adherence to official party doctrine concerning “zero COVID” – turned to lockdowns and mass testing campaigns as desperate measures in tackling the …

China logs nearly 13,000 Covid deaths in a week
1 year, 11 months ago

China logs nearly 13,000 Covid deaths in a week

The Hindu  

China reported nearly 13,000 Covid-related deaths in hospitals between January 13 and 19, after a top health official said the vast majority of the population had already been infected. The death toll came a week after China said nearly 60,000 people had died with Covid in hospitals in just over a month -- but there has been widespread scepticism over …

China lifted 'zero covid' policy to eradicate Tibetans from Tibet: Report
1 year, 11 months ago

China lifted 'zero covid' policy to eradicate Tibetans from Tibet: Report

Op India  

After the mass protest against China’s Zero Covid policy, Beijing took a U-turn and loosened up its strict restriction only to use them as a tool to kill and eradicate the Tibetans from Tibet, as per the Voice Against Autocracy. According to the latest report, 100 people alone have died in Lhasa due to Covid since Beijing lifted its strict …

China says critical COVID cases have peaked as holiday travel surges
1 year, 11 months ago

China says critical COVID cases have peaked as holiday travel surges

The Hindu  

The number of COVID patients needing critical care in China's hospitals has peaked, health authorities said on Thursday, as millions travelled across the country for long-awaited reunions with families, raising fears of fresh outbreaks. There has been widespread scepticism over China's official COVID data since it abruptly axed anti-virus controls last month that had shielded China's 1.4 billion people from …

Hong Kong to scrap isolation rule for new COVID-19 cases
1 year, 11 months ago

Hong Kong to scrap isolation rule for new COVID-19 cases

Firstpost  

For most of the pandemic, Hong Kong has aligned itself with China’s zero-COVID strategy, requiring those who tested positive to undergo quarantine. Many residents once had to be sent to hospitals or government-run quarantine facilities even when their symptoms were mild Hong Kong: Hong Kong will scrap its mandatory isolation rule for people infected with COVID-19 from 30 January as …

West's false COVID narratives hold no water
1 year, 11 months ago

West's false COVID narratives hold no water

China Daily  

A woman receives a booster dose in Chaoyang district of Beijing on July 13, 2022. First, some say that China's COVID-19 death toll does not include those who died as a result of delayed or denied medical treatment because of strict COVID-19 control measures. However, China's excess mortality during the pandemic was a negative number, which means China's COVID-19 policy …

Opinion: In China’s countryside, a Covid-19 tsunami is brewing
1 year, 11 months ago

Opinion: In China’s countryside, a Covid-19 tsunami is brewing

CNN  

Editor’s Note: Yanzhong Huang is a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations and a professor at Seton Hall University School of Diplomacy and International Relations, specializing in Asia. An elderly rural population Is China’s rural healthcare system able to withstand skyrocketing Covid-19 cases? Is China’s rural healthcare system able to withstand skyrocketing Covid-19 cases? A …

Explained: How 'zero COVID' workers are causing unrest in China
1 year, 11 months ago

Explained: How 'zero COVID' workers are causing unrest in China

Firstpost  

In the eastern city of Hangzhou, several COVID workers climbed on the roof of a test kit factory and threatened to jump to protest unpaid furloughs. At a separate test manufacturing plant in the city, workers protested for days over a wage dispute After China’s abrupt reversal of “zero COVID” restrictions, the nation’s vast machinery of virus surveillance and testing …

China’s economy grows 3% in 2022, hit by lockdowns, Covid surge
1 year, 11 months ago

China’s economy grows 3% in 2022, hit by lockdowns, Covid surge

The Hindu  

China’s economy grew 3% in 2022, the second-slowest growth rate since the last year of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution in 1976, with the last quarter of the year seeing declining growth as the country dealt with a sweeping COVID-19 surge. The past year, however, has seen China’s “zero-Covid” policy, which was discontinued in early December, extract heavy economic tolls. Kang …

China's Covid death data hides true toll: Report
1 year, 11 months ago

China's Covid death data hides true toll: Report

India TV News  

China Covid update: The nearly 60,000 Covid-related deaths China reported for the first five weeks of its current outbreak, the largest the world has ever seen, may underestimate the true toll by hundreds of thousands of fatalities, experts were quoted as saying in a media report. China's abrupt pivot from Covid Zero in early December unleashed a surge of omicron …

WHO says its chief spoke with Chinese officials, welcomes COVID-19 data
1 year, 11 months ago

WHO says its chief spoke with Chinese officials, welcomes COVID-19 data

The Hindu  

The World Health Organization's head has spoken with Chinese authorities and the agency welcomed new information about the situation in the country, WHO said on Saturday after Beijing released new data showing a big jump in COVID-19-related deaths. Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke with Ma Xiaowei, director of China’s National Health Commission, about the wave of infections which erupted …

China reports 60,000 COVID-related deaths, says peak passed
1 year, 11 months ago

China reports 60,000 COVID-related deaths, says peak passed

Associated Press  

BEIJING — China on Saturday reported nearly 60,000 deaths in people who had COVID-19 since early December, offering hard numbers for an unprecedented surge that was apparent in overcrowded hospitals and packed crematoriums, even as the government released little data about the status of the pandemic for weeks. China stopped reporting data on COVID-19 deaths and infections after abruptly lifting …

China reports almost 60,000 COVID-related deaths since December
1 year, 11 months ago

China reports almost 60,000 COVID-related deaths since December

The Hindu  

China’s National Health Commission on Saturday said the country had reported close to 60,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the ending of the stringent “zero-COVID” policy on December 7, 2022. In a 36-day period from December 8, 2022 to January 12, 2023, there were a total of 59,938 deaths, Jiao Yahui, director of the National Health Commission’s medical affairs department, said …

China records nearly 60,000 Covid-related deaths in a month: Health body
1 year, 11 months ago

China records nearly 60,000 Covid-related deaths in a month: Health body

Hindustan Times  

China said it had recorded almost 60,000 Covid-related deaths between December 8 and January 12, marking the first time China released death toll since its abrupt pivot away from the zero-Covid policy last month. Covid In China: Security guards wearing personal protective equipment amid the Covid-19 pandemic sit at an entrance of a building in Beijing. Director of National Health …

Almost all of Beijing residents to get Covid by January end: What a study shows
1 year, 11 months ago

Almost all of Beijing residents to get Covid by January end: What a study shows

Hindustan Times  

Nearly all of Beijing’s 22 million residents will be infected with Covid by the end of January, a new study found. Covid In China: People queueing to buy medicine amid the Covid-19 pandemic in Beijing, The study reflects the rapid spread of China's Covid outbreak as infections rise after Beijing abruptly relaxed its ‘zero-Covid’ policy in December. The rapid spread …

China says 60,000 people have died of Covid since early December
1 year, 11 months ago

China says 60,000 people have died of Covid since early December

CNN  

CNN — Close to 60,000 people have died of Covid in China since the country abruptly abandoned its tight “zero-Covid” policy in early December, a medical official from the National Health Commission told a press conference in Beijing on Saturday. The World Health Organization and the United States have accused China of “under-representing” the severity of its current outbreak, while …

COVID-19 update: China reports nearly 60,000 coronavirus deaths since December 2022| DETAILS
1 year, 11 months ago

COVID-19 update: China reports nearly 60,000 coronavirus deaths since December 2022| DETAILS

India TV News  

China COVID deaths : China today reported nearly 60,000 deaths in people who had COVID-19 since early December following complaints the government was failing to release data about the status of the pandemic. The death toll included 5,503 deaths due to respiratory failure caused by COVID-19 and 54,435 fatalities from other ailments combined with COVID-19. The National Health Commission said …

China reports almost 60,000 COVID-related deaths, says peak has passed
1 year, 11 months ago

China reports almost 60,000 COVID-related deaths, says peak has passed

LA Times  

China on Saturday reported nearly 60,000 deaths among people who had COVID-19 since early December, offering hard numbers for an unprecedented surge that was apparent in overcrowded hospitals and packed crematoriums, even as the government released little data about the status of the pandemic for weeks. It said those “deaths related to COVID” occurred in hospitals, which left open the …

China’s Covid Policy: Beijing can’t be trusted as a responsible player
1 year, 11 months ago

China’s Covid Policy: Beijing can’t be trusted as a responsible player

Times of India  

TOI Quick Edits are written by a team of seasoned journalists from the Times of India's Edit Page and TOI-Online who respond to important news stories as they develop. MORE In another indictment of China’s Covid policy, the WHO has again said that Beijing needs to share more data on its Covid outbreak and that it still believes Chinese authorities …

WHO says Covid deaths in China ‘heavily underreported’; praises US transparency
1 year, 11 months ago

WHO says Covid deaths in China ‘heavily underreported’; praises US transparency

Hindustan Times  

The WHO reiterated Wednesday the need for China to share more data on its explosive Covid outbreak, while praising Washington's "radical transparency" in its efforts to battle a new sub-variant. "WHO still believes that deaths are heavily underreported from China," its emergencies director Michael Ryan told reporters. He blamed Beijing's narrow definition of what constitutes a Covid death, and also …

China defends its move against South Korea, Japan Covid travel curbs: 'Reasonable...'
1 year, 11 months ago

China defends its move against South Korea, Japan Covid travel curbs: 'Reasonable...'

Hindustan Times  

Chinese state media defended on Wednesday the retaliatory measures against South Korea and Japan over their COVID-19 travel curbs as "reasonable", while Chinese tourists decried Seoul's "insulting" treatment on social media. China defends its move against South Korea, Japan Covid travel curbs. South Korean foreign minister Park Jin has said that Seoul's decision was based on scientific evidence and that …

Explainer: Chinese medical experts on key COVID-19 concerns through FAQs
1 year, 11 months ago

Explainer: Chinese medical experts on key COVID-19 concerns through FAQs

China Daily  

A medical worker in a protective suit adjusts a monitoring device for a patient at the fever clinics of the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University. Responding to online reports of vomiting and diarrhea caused by XBB, Li Tongzeng, a chief doctor with the department of respiratory and infectious diseases at Beijing Youan Hospital, Capital Medical University, said symptoms of …

Six fallacies and truths about China's epidemic control
1 year, 11 months ago

Six fallacies and truths about China's epidemic control

China Daily  

A medical worker injects a booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine for a resident at Aoyuncun Subdistrict in Chaoyang District, Beijing, July 13, 2022. Striving to effectively coordinate the epidemic response with economic and social development, China had won the tough battle against poverty on schedule and finished building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, getting off to a good …

Six fallacies and truths about China's epidemic control
1 year, 11 months ago

Six fallacies and truths about China's epidemic control

China Daily  

This aerial photo taken on Jan 1, 2023 shows a night view of the commercial area around Tianhe Road in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province. BEIJING -- Life is returning to normal and mobility is rebounding as China's COVID-19 prevention and control has entered a new stage -- a boon for world economy. However, some Western media ignore the facts, …

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