A wave of Covid infections hitting China as it opens up has put pressure on the healthcare system.
www.bbc.com
"Why didn't the government prepare for this earlier, with an expansion of hospital ICU capacity?
Why did Xi Jinping's administration allow the zero-Covid approach to cause so much damage to the economy more broadly and people's livelihoods more specifically?
A renewed vaccination push has started but it too should have come before China reached this stage.
The government says it is the virus which has changed, that newer strains are less dangerous and that this has meant the time was right to alter the response."
Check. Check. Check. Check. Welcome to 2022 China.
"Another reason restaurants are empty is that the city government still requires a negative PCR test result within 48 hours to dine inside. However, the majority of results are not coming through to health code phone apps."
Despite the success of mRNA vaccines, researchers think a new generation of Covid vaccines could provide broader, longer-term protection in the future.
www.nbcnews.com
"Experts agree now, though, that protection from Covid shots fades too fast. Plus, a lack of access to vaccines in many countries allowed the virus to spread rampantly and mutate over time, which has undermined vaccines and treatments."
Back to this theory again...
"But unlike in 2020, the federal government’s motivation to fund Covid-related innovations is drying up. Whatever Covid vaccine comes next is likely three to five years off, Miller estimated — or perhaps longer, according to other experts."
Trust in public health is eroding, and the implications are far reaching. We, as a field, have to fix this. Over the weekend Any forward-facing scientist can tell you that receiving dangerous messages has been a common occurrence throughout the pandemic. But the hate, resentment, frustration...
Even if people are selective about wearing masks this holiday season, some masking is better than none, disease experts say.
www.nbcnews.com
“The Philadelphia school district announced Wednesday that students and staff will be required to wear masks indoors for two weeks in January in an effort to slow transmission after the holidays.”
How even mild COVID-19 infection can damage your lungs Studies are finding damage in children and the virus in lungs a year after infection, causing T-cell infiltration, scarring, and a mechanism for lung injury. 🧵1/
pingthread.com
How even mild COVID-19 infection can damage your lungs
Studies are finding damage in children and the virus in lungs a year after infection, causing T-cell infiltration, scarring, and a mechanism for lung injury. 🧵1/
"A Globe and Mail analysis of ArriveCan contracts found that the company that received the most federal work on the app – GCstrategies – is an Ottawa-area company with fewer than five employees that relies heavily on dozens of subcontractors."
Beijing's announcement that it will issue ordinary passports and visas means millions of Chinese people could go abroad for next month's Lunar New Year holiday - and concerns that China opening up could lead to a new global spread of COVID are already being realised.
It comes as the world's largest annual migration event, Lunar New Year, begins.
www.bbc.com
"I'm so happy to be back, and breathe Chinese air. So happy, so happy".
Ventilator not included.
"Some local bus drivers at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge told the BBC they are worried they might get the virus from incoming travellers, and want their companies to provide them with more protection."
Don't forget to ask for hazard pay, subsidized transport to work for essential workers, and if you fall ill of the virus that they are paid sick days not depleting from your usual allotted amount of illness days. Learn from us.
Some 89% of people in Henan province have been infected but visits to clinics have peaked.
www.bbc.com
"Meanwhile Chinese health officials said they would not include Pfizer's antiviral Covid medicine Paxlovid in its basic medical insurance schemes as a result of the high price quoted by the US firm.
The drug, temporarily covered by China's broad healthcare insurance scheme until 31 March, has seen a sharp increase in demand since China's Covid cases surged last month."
There are some cheap pre-bivalent Pfizer mRNA vaccines. 90% off.
Beijing called S Korean restrictions on Chinese visitors unacceptable and has now retaliated.
www.bbc.com
"Last week, South Korea stopped issuing tourist visas for those coming from China, which the Chinese foreign ministry called 'unacceptable' and 'unscientific'.
Reacting to China's latest move, South Korea's foreign ministry told the BBC that its policy towards arrivals from China was 'in accordance with scientific and objective evidence'.
Japan meanwhile is currently allowing Chinese visitors into the country - provided they test negative for Covid.
According to South Korea's Disease Control and Prevention Agency, around a third of all arrivals from China tested positive for Covid prior to the visa restrictions being put in place."
To be fair, China dropped quarantine and other restrictions for entry into their country but still need the clean tests. Japan is just putting the same requirement on the Chinese.
The stoppage of tourist visas is retaliatory. Welcome to the world of travel restrictions based on I hate you, ...rather than on any notion of health.
Ongoing fatigue, loss of smell, weakness and trouble breathing can be scary and debilitating following Covid. A new study suggests most people do get better.
www.nbcnews.com
But this one says everyone will get better in a year.
#chinainsights#Chinacovid#Shanghaicovid<br>This is Shanghai on Jan. 6, 2023, where funeral operations were over capacity, and simple cremators were manufactured on the fly.<br>This doctor, a member of the Shanghai New Coronavirus Treatment Expert Group and the deputy director of a major hospital...