Berlin Beijing and Shanghai are often like ghost towns these days. Although according to official figures there are only a few thousand infected people and no restrictions are in force, the streets are empty – many people either stay at home sick or are afraid of becoming infected.
China is currently being overwhelmed by a wave of infections that is surprising even experts. After the unexpected cancellation of all corona restrictions a few weeks ago, the virus spread rapidly. According to the official figures, there were just over 2,700 new corona infections nationwide on Monday.
However, the number of unreported cases is likely to be much higher. According to estimates by experts, at least half of the approximately 22 million inhabitants in Beijing alone could be infected.
The local German economy is also affected. According to the Chamber of Commerce Abroad (AHK) in China, there are a large number of sick employees at companies. However, the chamber has so far not observed any “dramatic cuts or closures” of production facilities, according to the status in the middle of last week.
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Three sectors in particular are currently struggling with high levels of sick leave in China:
- delivery services
- hospitals
- pharmacies
Packages are piling up on the streets of Beijing and Shanghai. State authorities in Beijing called on the population to get in touch to temporarily step in as a driver.
Many delivery drivers are currently unable to start their service, the government is asking the citizens to step in.
(Photo: AP)
According to estimates, up to 70 percent of the workforce in hospitals in Beijing have contracted Covid. Employees are encouraged to go to work even if they are infected and contagious.
Images of overcrowded health facilities and people getting IVs on the street are making the rounds on social media.
Overcrowded crematoria in Beijing
As various media, including the British broadcaster Sky News, report, long queues of hearses formed in front of crematoria in Beijing. There are similar reports from other parts of the country, which are mainly shared on social networks. In the meantime, police officers are apparently monitoring the crematoria and preventing independent research by journalists on site.
Studies predict that up to a million people in China could die as a result of the virus. Although experts assume that a large number of people have already died of the disease since the relaxation of the corona restrictions and the rapid spread of the virus, government agencies have reported fewer than ten corona deaths since the beginning of the month.
“The few Covid deaths reported so far are suspiciously low,” William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Tennessee, told Bloomberg. A rapid increase in infections is usually followed by a spike in Covid-related deaths a week or two later, Schaffner said.
On Tuesday, the National Health Commission said there was a change in the count of people who have died because of Covid. According to this, only people who tested positive for Covid and died of respiratory failure would be counted as official virus deaths. People who died from another illness or event such as a heart attack would not be classified as virus dead, even if they had Covid at the time, it said.
According to eyewitness reports, the streets and squares of the Chinese metropolises are almost deserted.
(Photo: AP)
The massive outbreak of the disease hits the 1.4 billion inhabitants of China completely unprepared. It is true that middle-aged people in particular are at least vaccinated with the Chinese vaccine – Western vaccines are still not approved in the People’s Republic. Although the Chinese vaccine is not as effective as Western mRNA vaccines, it still protects against severe courses. In many infected people, the symptoms are currently apparently comparatively mild.
Low vaccination coverage in the elderly population
The big problem, meanwhile, is a low vaccination rate among the elderly population. In recent weeks, China has launched a vaccination campaign, especially among this part of the population. Chinese state media reports of officials going door to door offering to vaccinate the elderly. For many, however, the vaccine comes too late.
Because many people have stocked up, there is often a lack of medication to treat colds and pain.
(Photo: Reuters)
With the rise in the number of cases, there had been a rush for drugs to combat cold symptoms, such as ibuprofen. People were queuing in front of pharmacies, state media called not to hoard medicines. According to a report by the Chinese business magazine “Caixin”, some state-owned manufacturers have now switched to 24-hour production and have also increased sourcing from overseas.
Experts agree that the nationwide protests at the end of November were at best one of several factors that led to the great opening. Two reasons were more important: First, the zero-case strategy reached its limits in view of the highly contagious omicron variant. Despite draconian measures, the number of cases has been increasing since October.
>> Read here: Protests in parts of China against corona policy – people call on Xi to resign
In addition, the constant lockdowns in particular put an extreme strain on the economy. Not only has consumption dropped, Chinese exports also collapsed in October due to the difficult global economic situation – until then an important pillar of the world’s second largest economy.
According to the latest forecast, the World Bank expects real GDP growth to reach just 2.7 percent this year. It could then recover to 4.3 percent in 2023.
More: Total Surveillance and Repression – China’s Dangerous Transformation