China’s leader worries about COVID in some areas
2023.01.18 13:10
China’s leader worries about COVID in some areas
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – On Wednesday, President Xi Jinping stated that he was particularly concerned about the spread of China’s COVID-19 epidemic to rural areas with inadequate medical facilities. However, he also urged perseverance during difficult times, stating that “light is ahead.”
His remarks came as millions of urban workers were returning to their hometowns to spend the Lunar New Year (LNY) holidays with their families. Prior to COVID, this was the largest annual migration of people.
In his LNY greetings message, which was broadcast by CCTV, Xi stated, “China’s COVID prevention and control is still in a time of stress, but the light is ahead, persistence is victory.”
“The farmers and rural areas are the most concerning to me. “Prevention is difficult and the task is difficult in rural areas because medical facilities are relatively weak,” Xi stated, adding that the elderly were the top priority.
China imposed a strict zero-COVID strategy of lockdowns and other movement restrictions for three years at a high economic and psychological cost under Xi’s leadership before abruptly abandoning it at the beginning of December shortly after widespread protests.
The virus, which has spread to the nation’s 1.4 billion people, has disrupted factory output and consumer spending over the past two months. However, some analysts believe that the greater-than-anticipated shock may be followed by a faster-than-anticipated recovery.
Financial specialists are examining the Christmas season for flickers of bouncing back utilization across the world’s second biggest economy after new Gross domestic product information on Tuesday affirmed a sharp monetary log jam in China.
The policy challenges facing Xi, who must placate a pessimistic younger generation that led the protests against COVID curbs in November, could be exacerbated by prolonged sluggishness.
China’s Vice-Premier Liu He declared to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Tuesday that China was open to the world after three years of isolation, despite the fact that some analysts anticipate that recovery to be slow and patchy.
Since China’s borders reopened on Jan. 8, state media reported, officials from the National Immigration Administration stated that, on average, half a million people had entered or exited the country each day. When the holiday officially begins on Saturday, that number is expected to rise to 600,000 per day.
However, as workers flee megacities like Shanghai, where officials claim the virus has reached its peak, many are moving to smaller towns and villages where health care systems are less well-equipped and elderly people who have not been vaccinated have not yet been exposed to COVID.
Some people were ignoring the COVID outbreak as they made their way toward the departure gates.
In Beijing and Shanghai, travelers bustled through subways and train stations, many carrying bulky wheeled suitcases and boxes filled with food and gifts.
At Shanghai’s Hongqiao Railway Station, migrant worker Jiang Zhiguang said, “I used to be a little worried (about COVID-19).”
“Now it has no significance. Now, it is acceptable to become infected. “You’ll just be sick for two days,” the 30-year-old Jiang told Reuters.
Others will return to grieve for deceased relatives. Angry at what they claim was a lack of preparation to protect the elderly, they say, before the sudden policy change, this bereavement is mixed with anger for some.
State medical personnel are this week going door to door in some outlying villages in more isolated areas far from the swift urban outbreaks to vaccinate the elderly. The official Xinhua news agency describes the effort as the “last mile.”
Oxygenators are being installed in clinics in rural towns and villages, and medical vehicles have also been sent to areas that are thought to be in danger.
State media stated that health officials were not yet prepared to provide the additional data that the World Health Organization (WHO) is currently seeking, despite the fact that authorities confirmed a significant increase in deaths on Saturday, announcing that nearly 60,000 people with COVID had died in hospitals between December 8 and January 12.
In particular, the WHO told Reuters in a statement on Tuesday that the United Nations agency wants information on so-called excess mortality, or the total number of deaths beyond the norm during a crisis.
According to Chinese experts, the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention was already monitoring such data, but it would take time before it could be released, according to The Global Times, a tabloid that is published by the official People’s Daily.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that doctors in both public and private hospitals are being actively discouraged from blaming COVID for deaths.
