China’s ‘new flu’ hits the health system in an unprecedented wave of infections

First modification: 12/20/2022 – 16:02

Explosion of infections, full hospitals, opening of new fever clinics, pharmacies out of stock, saturated crematoriums and medical professionals doubling shifts, if they have not fallen ill from the virus. This is the scenario of the uncontrolled pandemic situation in China.

“Impossible” figures to determine

The real scope of the infections is “impossible” to determine, as recognized by the Chinese government. China had an exhaustive daily count of infected cases, now there are no reliable numbers, neither infected nor deaths. The hardest-hit province is Guangzhou, in the south of the country, but the infections spread throughout the territory.

The real concern of people now is access to medical services and medicines, since many feel unprotected against the virus, without being able to buy antivirals or PCR tests. In any case, not all cities experience the lack of medical resources in the same way. In fact, the most affected places are usually far from the focus of the cameras, in rural China.

a drastic change

The low pathogenicity of the dominant omicron variant does not prevent citizens from feeling fear, especially after three years of official discourse demonizing the virus and thanking the Government for strict measures to protect its people.

The change in Covid prevention and control measures was drastic. Within days of the relaxation of restrictions and mass testing, the wave of infections began across the country, which is still expected to continue growing until mid-January 2023.

We are now at a critical moment in which the Chinese government must show that three years have not really passed in vain. Let’s hope that the balance of this first great wave of infections in China does not remain opaque any longer.