While the West panics in the face of the wave of Covid in progress in China and the lifting of restrictions in the country, in particular concerning foreign travel, on the spot, the peak of the current epidemic seems to have passed, in several megacities, including the capital, but also Shanghai. It is now the Chinese countryside who are worried.
With our correspondent in Beijing, Stephane Lagarde
Six months since we had seen such traffic jams in Beijing. Windows rolled down, angry drivers shouting at each other in traffic… To facilitate the resumption of post-infection work, odd and even number plates can roll and the tolls at the entrance to the capital are wide open .
Beijing is doing better, except for its old people whose health is still threatened in hospitals under tension, about which the Chinese state media do not speak or little about, in a hurry to turn the page on “zero-Covid” and which multiply the images of Beijingers doing sport, shopping or going to the cinema.
Faced with announcements of restrictions targeting travelers from China, health authorities are trying to reassure and minimize the scope of the Omicron surge. ” Severe and critical forms of the disease represent 3 to 4% of infected patients admitted to the emergency room “, declared Tuesday the vice-president of the Chaoyang hospital. Figures disputed on the networks, such as that of 90% of asymptomatic people announced at the start of the wave.
The concern now is for the countryside which is expected to receive the Omicron tsunami by the end of the month and the start of the Lunar New Year holiday.
Very reassuring up to now, Zhang Wenhong takes gloves: ” Omicron is not as severe as earlier variants like Delta, but if too many people are infected at once, the absolute number of critically ill patients is likely to increase. And some speak today of 70 to 80% of the inhabitants of megacities infected.
The State has just announced an improvement in health coverage for rural populations, and promises to offer a “ temporary cash assistance to people living in areas severely affected by Covid.
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