The coronavirus has severely broken out again in China. It comes after the country lifted its tough restrictions on infection prevention, following major riots in several places across the country.
It has been estimated that 80-90% of the Chinese population will be infected. and that 60 percent will be infected during the first three months.
On Dec. 23, Chinese officials estimated that about 250 million citizens were infected in the first 20 days of December. Subsequently, the authorities changed the definition of corona death. Only deaths due to covid-triggered pneumonia or respiratory failure count.
After the change, the country reported five or fewer deaths per day. At the same time, funeral homes and hospitals experience heavy traffic.
Fight for medicine
Now a new video shows shocking conditions at a hospital in Shanghai:
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Danish media Berlingske Tidende has already submitted the video. They cite, among other things, the AFP news agency, which reports on overcrowded hospitals in the country.
According to the news agency, which visited two hospitals in Shanghai, the detainees are discussing drugs.
According to Dr. Chen Erzen, as many as 70% of the city’s 25 million population may have been infected by the latest wave of infections.
Erzen, who is vice president of Shanghai’s Ruijin Hospital and also sits on the city’s corona advisory board, made the estimate in an interview with state media on Tuesday.
Chen added that his hospital receives 1,600 ICU patients a day, double the number before the lifting of infection control restrictions. 80 percent of those are corona patients, according to Chen.
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At the same time that hospitals are overcrowded, Chinese authorities report that the virus is under control and that the corona policy is working as before.
Healthcare organization concerned
WHO disagrees with this.
– We believe that the figures now released from China underestimate the true scale of hospitalizations, intensive care admissions and, not least, deaths, says WHO crisis director Michael Ryan.
– We still don’t have real numbers, he adds.
CEO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also expresses concern.
– We continue to ask China for faster, more regular and more reliable figures for hospitalizations and deaths, he says.
– WHO is concerned about the danger to life in China and has again stressed how important it is with vaccination, including booster doses, to protect against hospitalization, serious illness and death, says the WHO chief.
