A “more targeted health campaign” and a “community defense line” in the face of the “new situation”. After the explosion of Covid infections in China with 250 million new cases in the first 20 days of DecemberXi Jinping intervenes with a directive that should curb the further expansion of the virus, in ways that are difficult to understand at the moment.
The Chinese president, reports state TV, addressed his indications to officials across the country in his first public speech after the sensational easing of restrictions following the protests of people exasperated by the militarized management of the ‘zero Covid’ policy. “Faced with the new situation, it is necessary to launch a more targeted health campaign, strengthen a community defense line for epidemic prevention and control and effectively protect people’s lives, safety and health”, is Xi’s line at a time when China has the highest infection curve in the world, with some studies estimating the number of possible cases at at least one million deaths from Covid while drugs are scarce in pharmacies due to the explosion of requests, health facilities are collapsing due to the enormous influx of sick people, mostly elderly and unvaccinated, and crematoria are unable to dispose of the large amount of corpses.
A line of defense against the virus that was launched on the same day that the abolition of quarantine for those arriving from abroad was announced (from 8 January), replaced by a negative test carried out in the 48 hours prior to entry in the country: even here a radical step change in infection containment policies. Already in June, China had reduced the duration of the mandatory quarantine for incoming travelers by half: from 21 days to 10, and currently the isolation is five days in special hotels plus another three days at home. A measure, that of the abolition of the quarantine, aimed at giving new impetus to the economy penalized by the restrictions: the borders have practically been closed since the beginning of 2020, international connections have been greatly reduced and tourist visas are not issued.
Two days ago, and part of the same line of action, Hong Kong’s decision, agreed with Beijing, to reopen the border with China that has been closed for three years by mid-January. But the assessment of the real incidence of infections, which has always been made known with a cross-eyed dropper, becomes even more difficult after the National Health Commission announced on Sunday, without providing any explanation, that it will no longer publish the daily data on cases and on deaths. On the other hand, the health authorities had admitted a few days ago that it has become impossible for the system to trace the number of new infected also due to the great diffusion of do-it-yourself tampons the result of which is rarely reported. To worsen the prospects of controlling the spread of the virus, the Chinese New Year which falls on January 21st: it is the most important event of the year which sees millions of people who traditionally move for tourism and other millions of migrant workers travel to reunite with families especially in rural areas, the most at risk due to lack of medicines and facilities .
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