I recently noted that China’s Great Wall of “Zero Covid” was crumbling rapidly.
Now more reports indicate that the Chinese government is fully embracing the realities of handling the uncontainable virus, as I discussed during my review of the Russian Flu.
To begin with, China has stopped reporting asymptomatic cases of covid. As always, it also neglects to highlight covid deaths.
China’s National Health Commission (NHC) will as of Wednesday stop reporting new asymptomatic COVID-19 infections, as many people without symptoms no longer participate in testing, making it hard to accurately tally the total count, it said.The health authority reported 2,291 new symptomatic COVID-19 infections on Dec. 13.China recorded 7,679 new cases a day earlier – 2,315 symptomatic and 5,364 asymptomatic infections, which China counts separately.Excluding imported infections, China reported 2,249 new symptomatic local cases. There were a total of 7,451 local cases including asymptomatic infections a day earlier.There were no new deaths, the same as the previous day, keeping fatalities at 5,235.
The nation also deactivated a state-mandated mobile app used to track the travel histories of a population of 1.4 billion people…but only after a ton of personal data had been collected on the activities of its citizens.
The app that identified travellers to COVID-stricken areas will shut down at midnight on Monday, according to a notice on its official WeChat account.The app has collected a huge amount of personal and sensitive information and the data should be deleted in a timely manner, Liu Xingliang, a researcher at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, was quoted by state radio as saying.Chinese state-owned telecom giant China Unicom said late on Monday it would delete users’ mobile itinerary data previously used to identify travellers in COVID-stricken areas from Tuesday.When such apps were launched three years ago, critics expressed concern that they could be used for mass surveillance and social control of the population.
The Chinese people are struggling to find relief, as everyone is being hit with highly contagious variants causing cold- and flu-like symptoms all at once.
Residents have also complained of long lines at pharmacies and cold medication selling out. Agence France-Presse reported a black market had emerged for rapid tests and some medications being sold at inflated prices by “dealers” whose contacts are being shared on social media groups.Online healthcare platform 111.inc had begun selling Pfizer’s oral treatment, Paxlovid, on the retail market, after it was previously only available through hospitals. But sold out within half an hour of it being reported by media, according to Reuters.It wasn’t clear how many boxes – priced at more than $400 each – were sold, or when they would be restocked, but Pfizer told Reuters it was “actively collaborating with all stakeholders to secure an adequate supply of Paxlovid in China”.
Businesses across the nation are dealing with massive numbers of sick employees.
Anecdotally, in cities like Beijing and Wuhan, many workers and their families have succumbed to COVID, although official case numbers have fallen to under a fifth of a Nov. 27 peak as China now conducts much less testing.”More than half of our staff in the mall and the hotel are positive,” said a senior executive at a firm that manages one of Beijing’s largest retail complexes.The executive, who declined to be identified, said the mall was still open with remaining staff splitting into two teams and only one team working a particular shift.
The US Mission in China indicates that there is a reduction in non-emergency services in some areas, and further disruptions are possible as the country goes rapidly from “Zero Covid” to “Full Covid.”
The good news for the Chinese is that after 4-6 weeks, herd immunity should be in good shape. The bad news is that the virus will be back in more waves as new variants begin to arise, and China’s surveillance game has never been stronger.
Meanwhile, Sweden laughs at us all.
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