By The News Agenda: After the government reversed its strict lockdown restrictions under the zero-Covid policy, the number of cases of Covid continues to rise in China. The number of Covid deaths in China is likely to have reached “millions,” according to epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding. As the bodies pile up at hospitals and crematoriums, videos from China appear to support Feigl-Ding’s claim.
Videos purporting that China’s hospitals are overwhelmed by the rising number of infections have been shared on social media. In spite of the absence of true affirmation from the public authority, labourers at morgues said they needed to place in additional movements to deal with the flood in Coronavirus passings.
The assertion made by Feigl-Ding was supported by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in the United States, which predicted that China could experience over a million Covid-19 cases and more than a million deaths by 2023.
The hospital staff, who are bearing the brunt of the government’s decision to reverse its policy, are at the forefront of the looming battle against Covid. A developing number of specialists and medical caretakers are coming down with the Coronavirus infection as individuals showing moderate side effects crowd emergency clinics and centres.
Social media posts by medical professionals revealed that some of them have been asked to continue working even though they have tested positive for Covid.
The situation in the nation of 1.4 billion people is dire: hospitals are being overrun, pharmacies are running out of medicines, and the streets are unusually quiet as people stay home because they are sick or afraid of getting the disease.
According to Reuters, which cited government WeChat accounts and media reports, major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Wenzhou announced they had added hundreds of fever clinics over the past week.
How will China respond?
Authorities have been rushing to construct “fever clinics” as the virus spreads across the nation. These facilities allow medical professionals to examine patients’ symptoms and administer medications. In mainland China, these clinics are common and frequently join hospitals. They are made to keep contagious diseases from spreading to more people in healthcare settings.
Schools in Shanghai and many other outbreak cities have been closed for the next month due to the rapid rise in cases.