China is in a state of dilemma with regard to Covid-19. Infections are soaring in the country and hospitals and crematoriums are struggling to cope with the numbers. The scenes are the same as what India witnessed in 2021 during the second Covid wave.
But on the other hand, the Chinese government has made a sharp U-turn on Covid-19 policy. Just a few months ago, Xi Jinping had said firmly that the government will not be walking away from the zero-tolerance policy. This led to nationwide protests, reportedly the largest, since Xi Jinping took over the reins of the country in 2012.
Now, starting January 8, 2023, Covid-19 will be downgraded as a disease and all measures related to it will be eased.
China announced major policy changes regarding Covid-19 on Monday night.
— Zichen Wang (@ZichenWanghere) December 26, 2022
No more mandatory quarantine.
No designation of close contacts.
No more restrictions on flights.
A negative testing result 48 hours before the trip is the only requirement to travel to China.
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The changes:
The changes to the Covid-19 name and downgrading of the category are significant, SCMP reported.
Though Covid-19 as a disease will continue being in Category A with the likes of bubonic plague and cholera, the treatment measures will be downgraded to Category B like that of HIV and viral hepatitis.
The latest changes to Covid-19 policy were reportedly announced by the National Health Commission of China late on Monday. On the other hand, reports say Beijing is likely to start distributing Pfizer's Covid drug Paxlovid to control the spread of infections.
As for the number of Covid cases in China, the daily case counts and deaths remain unknown as the Central government has stopped releasing Covid data and left it to local authorities. Beijing alone had reported 4,000 new infections on Friday. BBC citing a British health data firm Airfinity said that China is likely reporting over a million (10 lakh) cases and 5000 deaths a day.
Recently, a Hong Kong study claimed that China will witness one million Covid-19-related deaths.