BEIJING – In a rare and swiftly suppressed admission that the country’s wave of infections is not being represented in official data, a top health official said many people in a single Chinese metropolis are contracting COVID-19 every day.
In a startling reversal of its illustrious containment approach, China had swiftly demolished major pillars of its zero-COVID plan in December, eliminating sudden lockdowns, protracted quarantines, and travel restrictions.
Rising infection rates have left pharmacy shelves empty, hospital wards full, and it appears even crematoriums and funeral houses are seeing backlogs as cities across the nation battle to keep up.
While authorities have restricted the medical definition of a COVID-19 death, a move experts have suggested will reduce the number of fatalities linked to the virus, the elimination of tight testing standards has made caseloads practically impossible to track.
China’s National Health Commission reported on Saturday that no new deaths had been reported, despite 4,103 new home infections being reported nationwide the day before.
In a social media post on Friday, the authorities of Jiangxi’s eastern province predicted that by March, 80% of its citizens, or around 36 million people, would be sick.
In the two weeks prior to Thursday, major medical facilities in the province had admitted more than 18,000 COVID-19 patients, including roughly 500 severe cases but with no fatalities, according to the statement.
