After easing – dreaded wave of corona infections in China

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Experts expect a huge wave of infections after the relaxation of strict zero-Covid measures in China. The vast majority of China’s 1.4 billion people will eventually contract the coronavirus, according to a government adviser. The former deputy director of the national health service, Feng Zijian, believes that eventually 80 to 90 percent of the population will become infected with the virus, state media reported Thursday.

“Regardless of how the measures are adjusted, most of us will become infected at some point,” the expert emphasized. In the first wave, the infection rate should be around 60 percent according to model calculations. “Reasonable measures” must be taken to keep the peak of this surge low and ease the strain on public health, Feng Zijian told an online forum at Tsinghua University in Beijing. After the recent outbreak in Beijing, hospitals in the capital are already experiencing a large influx of infected people and a shortage of staff.

“Darkest moment” in the next month or two
“The emergency room is full of patients,” a nurse told Yicai magazine. “Many patients who come to the emergency department turn out to be positive after a PCR test.” Staff must prepare to infect themselves. An anesthetist in another hospital reported that the definition of contact person there is no longer so narrow in order to prevent staff shortages due to the required isolation. An essay circulating in medical circles says the next two months will be “the darkest moment” for medical workers, the journal wrote.

Experts recommend full vaccination
The peak of the wave will put “huge strain” on the medical system, expert Feng Zijian warned. Preparations should be made. It is also important to speed up vaccinations – especially for the elderly with chronic diseases. Those who have not yet been fully vaccinated should do so as soon as possible. The expert was among a group of eight experts who advised Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chunlan last week, before Chunlan spoke of a “new phase” in the crackdown on the virus, which is now “less pathogenic”.

After a wave of protests at the end of November against the draconian zero-Covid measures, the government turned around on Wednesday and announced far-reaching relaxations of lockdowns, quarantine rules, mandatory testing and travel in China. In principle, it should be possible for infected people without symptoms or with a mild course of illness to go into isolation at home. Even contacts are no longer threatened with the quarantine camp as before. You must also be able to isolate yourself at home.

Instead of trying to bring the number of infections to zero with rigorous measures, China will probably try to live with the virus like the rest of the world with these relaxations. The zero-Covid strategy had led to widespread public discontent and enormous pressure on the world’s second-largest economy, while strict measures against the new, easily transmissible omicron variants of the virus had become increasingly ineffective.

International health experts have repeatedly expressed incomprehension that modern foreign mRNA vaccines are still not approved in China. It was also warned that natural immunity among the billions of people is not yet in order, as there have been relatively few infections in China so far. For many Chinese, it has been a long time since the last vaccinations or boosters, which could become a problem.

Source: Krone

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