China expands hospitals and ICUs because it faces Covid surge

Facing a surge in Covid-19 cases, China is establishing more intensive care facilities and attempting to strengthen hospitals as Beijing rolls back anti-virus controls that confined tens of millions of individuals to their homes, crushed economic growth and set off protests.

President Xi Jinping’s government is officially committed to stopping virus transmission, the last major country to try. But the newest moves suggest the ruling Communist Party will tolerate more cases without quarantines or shutting down travel or businesses because it winds down its “zero-Covid” strategy.

A Cabinet meeting called Thursday for “full mobilization” of hospitals including adding staff to make sure their “combat effectiveness” and increasing drug supplies, in line with state media. Officials were told to maintain track of the health of everyone of their area aged 65 and older.

It’s not clear how much infection numbers have increased since Beijing last week ended mandatory testing as often as once a day in lots of areas. But interviews and social media accounts say there are outbreaks in businesses and schools across the country. Some restaurants and other businesses have closed because too many employees are sick.

The virus testing site in Beijing’s Runfeng Shuishang neighborhood shut down because all its employees were infected, the neighborhood government said Saturday on its social media account. “Please be patient,” it said.

Official case numbers are falling, but those now not cover large parts of the population after mandatory testing ended Wednesday in lots of areas. That was a part of dramatic changes that confirmed Beijing was trying step by step to hitch america and other governments that ended travel and other restrictions and try to live with the virus.

On Sunday, the federal government reported 10,815 recent cases, including 8,477 without symptoms. That was basely one-quarter of the previous week’s every day peak above 40,000 but only represents people who find themselves tested after being admitted to hospitals or for jobs in schools and other higher-risk sites.

Shaanxi province within the west has put aside 22,000 hospital beds for Covid-19 and is able to increase its intensive care capability 20% by converting other beds, the Shanghai news outlet The Paper reported, citing Yun Chunfu, an official of the provincial health commission. Yun said cities are “accelerating the upgrading” of hospitals for “critically ailing patients.”.

“Each city is required to designate a hospital with strong comprehensive strength and high treatment level” for Covid-19 cases, Yu was cited as saying at a news conference.

China has 138,000 intensive care beds, the final director of Bureau of Medical Administration of the National Health Commission, Jiao Yahui, said at a news conference Friday. That’s lower than one for each 10,000 people.

Health resources are distributed unevenly. Hospital beds are concentrated in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities on the prosperous east coast. Thursday’s Cabinet statement told officials to ensure rural areas have “fair access” to treatment and medicines.

China’s controls kept its infection rate low but crushed already weak economic growth and prompted complaints in regards to the rising human cost. The official death toll is 5,235, compared with 1.1 million for america.

China’s official total case count of 363,072 is up nearly 50% from the Oct. 1 level after a rash of outbreaks across the country.

Protests erupted Nov. 25 after 10 people died in a hearth in Urumqi within the northwest. Web users asked whether firefighters or people attempting to escape were blocked by locked doors or other anti-virus measures. Authorities denied that, however the disaster became a spotlight for public anger.

Xi’s government promised to cut back the associated fee and disruption after the economy shrank by 2.6% from the previous quarter within the three months ending in June. That was after Shanghai and other industrial centers shut down for as much as two months to fight outbreaks.

Forecasters say the economy probably is shrinking in the present quarter. Imports tumbled 10.9% from a 12 months ago in November in an indication of weak demand. Some forecasters have cut their outlook for annual growth to below 3%, lower than half of last 12 months’s robust 8.1% expansion.

It’s not clear whether any of the changes were a response to the protests.

In a show of official confidence, the No. 2 leader, Premier Li Keqiang, was shown by state media meeting with leaders of the International Monetary Fund and other financial institutions without masks last week within the eastern city of Huangshan. Earlier, Xi skipped a photo-taking session with Russian and Central Asian leaders during a summit in Uzbekistan in September at which the others wore no masks.

Still, health experts and economists say “zero Covid” is more likely to stay in place not less than through mid-2023 because tens of millions of elderly people have to be vaccinated before restrictions that keep most visitors out of China be lifted. The federal government launched a campaign last week to vaccinate the elderly, a process that may take months.

Experts warn there still is a likelihood the ruling party might reverse course and reimpose restrictions if it worries hospitals is likely to be overwhelmed.

Meanwhile, experts cited by state media called on the general public to cut back the strain on hospitals by treating mild Covid-19 cases at home and laying aside treatment for less serious problems.

Patients are standing in line for as much as six hours to get into fever clinics. Accounts on social media say some hospitals turn away patients with problems deemed not serious enough to want urgent treatment.

“Blindly going to the hospital” is depleting resources and might delay treatment for serious cases, “leading to serious risk,” the vp of Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai, Chen Erzhen, told The Paper.

“We recommend trying to administer health at home,” Chen said. “Leave medical resources for individuals who really want treatment.”