Beijing, December 18 (EFE).- China this Sunday reported 2,097 new covid cases detected the day before, compared to 2,286 the day before, according to the National Health Commission.
In recent times, Chinese cities have canceled ongoing PCR testing campaigns for all of their residents that have been common for months, resulting in fewer infected people being detected.
In addition, health authorities this week stopped counting asymptomatic cases because “it is no longer possible to determine their true number”.
Of the 2,097 cases detected on Saturday, 2,028 are local and 69 are imported, with the majority of locally transmitted infections located in Guangzhou (southeast), Beijing and Chongqing (central).
According to the Commission’s accounts, since the beginning of the pandemic the country has recorded a total of 378,458 infections and 5,235 deaths, with 34,653 active cases, of which 242 are serious, at this moment.
In recent days, the official press has begun to minimize the risk of the omicron variant through numerous articles and interviews with experts, a round of reasoning that accompanies the easing of some of the strictest measures of the ‘zero’ covid policy, in force for almost three years.
The authorities have already stated that the “conditions” are in place for the country to “adapt” its measures in this “new situation” in which the virus causes fewer deaths, but they have also announced a plan to speed up the vaccination of the elderly, one of the more vulnerable groups but at the same time more reluctant to be vaccinated.
Similarly, the Chinese executive announced this month that it will allow infected people with asymptomatic or mild symptoms to self-isolate in their homes – until now transferring to a quarantine center was mandatory – and indicated that it will no longer be necessary to have a negative covid test to enter most places and establishments, except hospitals or schools.
The changes came after the fatigue of the restrictions crystallized in protests in various parts of the country after the deaths of ten people in a seemingly confined building in Urumqi (northwest), with slogans such as “I don’t want PCR, I want eat” or “give me back my freedom”.
The government defends that it has saved millions of lives through “zero covid”, which consists of isolating all those infected and their close contacts, strict border controls, partial or total confinement in places where cases are detected and tests Constant PCRs for the urban population. EFE extension
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