The COVID-2019 Thread

[misskit]

Parents urged to protect young children against COVID-19 amid deaths of Under 5s


Prominent Thai virologist Dr. Yong Poovorawan is urging parents of children under 5 to take special care of them by protecting them from COVID-19 infection, citing the death toll among young children.


Quoting initial information from the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Yong, head of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at the Faculty of Medicine of Chulalongkorn University, said in his Facebook post today (Tuesday) that there have been 51 deaths of children from COVID-19 this year, 39 of whom were under 5 and, of these, 10 were healthy children and 19 had underlying conditions.


He said that deaths of young children who are healthy is unacceptable, but often occur quite quickly. He also pointed out that, currently, there are no vaccines for available for children under five in Thailand.


Dr. Yong cited the case of China, where many children aged over three have been inoculated with Sinovac inactivated vaccine, which is quite safe, citing a report in The Lancet medical journal.


He said that, in Thailand, the decision to introduce vaccines for children under five rests with several agencies.


Although children tend to develop severe COVID-19 symptoms less frequently than adults or the elderly, Dr. Yong said that more attention should be given to the very young.


Over 56 million people in Thailand have received at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccines to date, out of the entire population of some 69 million. 51 million people have received two shots, while 25.5 million have got their booster doses.


Although the daily infection rate is on the decline, death tolls remain high at more than 100 per day.

Parents urged to protect young children against COVID-19 amid deaths of Under 5s | Thai PBS World : The latest Thai news in English, News Headlines, World News and News Broadcasts in both Thai and English. We bring Thailand to the world

[harrybarracuda]

So by my reckoning, if a portion of this will be used for insurance as they promised, there will be no need for ThailandPass at all.

Mind you, there isn't now.

The 300-baht tourism fee is scheduled to begin being collected between August and September this year using the Thailand Tourism Fee (TTF) system implemented by airlines.
Airlines raised concerns about the budget for the system and manpower to handle the process, as they are still struggling with the pandemic impact and weak passenger flows.
"The tourism fee is in line with the revised National Tourism Policy Act of 2008, which granted permission to set up the fund from the fees collected from foreign visitors. The fund will be used to develop tourist sites and offer tourists insurance," said Chote Trachu, permanent secretary of the Tourism and Sports Ministry.
Tourism fee of B300 set for Q3

[misskit]

Thailand’s COVID-19 wards being phased out as COVID admissions fall

A number of Thai hospitals are phasing out their COVID-19 specific wards, as the number of COVID-19 admissions steadily declines, said Director-General of the Medical Services Department Dr. Somsak Akksilp, today (Monday).


As the COVID-19 situation is improving, he said that more patients are being treated at home, thus reducing the number of hospital admissions.


Citing the case of Lerdsin Hospital, he said that they stopped admitting COVID-19 patients into their field hospital yesterday and now refer them to other facilities, in line with their medical entitlements.


The hospital used to reserve 200 beds for serious COVID-19 cases, but there are only between 30-40 such patients currently being treated.


Dr. Somsak said that, in the next one to two weeks, the COVID-19 wards at Lerdsin Hospital will revert to wards for other patients, unless there is an outbreak of a new COVID-19 variant or a resurgence of serious infections, adding that other hospitals are also in the process of phasing out COVID-19 wards.


He said that health agencies are, however, still closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation globally, noting that, in some countries, new COVID-19 sub-variants have been spreading.


He said health officials have been discussing, with those responsible for the treatment of patients, ways to prevent and treat patients when COVID-19 is reclassified as an endemic disease.


As most schools resume on-site classes in the middle of this month, Dr. Somsak urged parents to take their children, who are five and over, for vaccination.


He expressed concern for children under two, because there are still no vaccines available for them. He suggested, however, that the best protection for these very young children is for everyone around them to be fully inoculated, with booster shots.


Meanwhile, Dr. Naronglit Masaya-anon, of Ramathibodi Hospital, said that surgery services at the hospital are gradually returning to normal.


Dr. Watcharapong Piyaphanee, of Mahidol University’s Faculty of Tropical Medicine issued a warning about the increase in cases of dengue fever, noting that the symptoms are similar to those associated with COVID-19 and the patients may die if they do not get timely treatment.


Thailand on Monday recorded 9,331 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases, the first time in almost three months the daily figure is below 10,000.

Thailand's COVID-19 wards being phased out as COVID admissions fall | Thai PBS World : The latest Thai news in English, News Headlines, World News and News Broadcasts in both Thai and English. We bring Thailand to the world

[misskit]

Covid'''s toll in the U.S. reaches a once unfathomable number: 1 million deaths

[harrybarracuda]

Covid'''s toll in the U.S. reaches a once unfathomable number: 1 million deaths

The half a billion recorded cases has also been reached. Which probably means a billion infections at least.

[Neverna]

Thailand’s COVID-19 wards being phased out as COVID admissions fall

Thailand on Monday recorded 9,331 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases, the first time in almost three months the daily figure is below 10,000.

Here's a graph showing Thailand's Covid cases for the year so far, according to their official figures.



The last 4 days have seen the number of cases stuck in the 9,000s.
9331
9721
9288
9790

[harrybarracuda]

The last 4 days have seen the number of cases stuck in the 9,000s.
9331
9721
9288
9790

Probably all those nasty farang they're letting in without a proper ThailandPass. Or at least Anutin probably thinks so.

[harrybarracuda]

To think I was fucking joking.

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul plans to propose ending the Thailand Pass system initially for returning Thais, and later also for foreigners.

Anutin favours ending Thailand Pass for Thai returnees

[misskit]

15 million: World’s Covid death toll triple than actually reported in 2020-21, says WHO


The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday said that the death count associated with the COVID-19 pandemic is actually three times more than the official toll attributed to the virus.


According to its estimates released on Thursday, the Covid virus has killed 13.3 million to 16.6 million people in excess in 2020 and 2021.

The WHO said that most of the excess deaths —84 per cent —were concentrated in southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas.


“New estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that the full death toll associated directly or indirectly with #COVID19 pandemic (described as “excess mortality”) between 1 Jan 2020 and 31 Dec 2021 was approximately 14.9 million (range 13.3 million to 16.6 million),” the UN health agency said in a statement.

Describing it as “excess mortality”, the WHO put out the numbers by including those deaths caused by the Covid’s “knock-on effects”.

Excess mortality is defined as the difference in the total number of deaths in a crisis compared to those expected under normal conditions.

COVID-19 excess mortality accounts for both the total number of deaths directly attributed to the virus as well as the indirect impact, such as disruption to essential health services or travel disruptions.

“These sobering data not only point to the impact of the pandemic but also to the need for all countries to invest in more resilient health systems that can sustain essential health services during crises, including stronger health information systems," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

15 million: World’s Covid death toll triple than actually reported in 2020-21, says WHO - World News

[harrybarracuda]

You know you're in trouble if even the Bangladeshis are dumping your shit vaccines.

Hey hoohoo, by the way what happened to that chinky mRNA knock off?

DALIAN, China/TOKYO -- China's exports of domestically produced COVID-19 vaccines have plunged due to weaker protection against the highly transmissible omicron variant compared with U.S. and European products, hindering the country's vaccine diplomacy.
Sinopharm, Sinovac Biotech and Cansino Biologics exported a total of 6.78 million doses in April, down 97% from the peak in September 2021, according to UNICEF. This includes vaccines in which some production processes, such as bottling, were conducted overseas.
Meanwhile, 55.69 million doses of the vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech were exported in April, down 71% from September but more than eight times the Chinese figure. Exports by Moderna of the U.S. fell 57% to 16.49 million.
Even if Chinese vaccines are administered for the first or second shot, their use as a third booster shot has fallen sharply, according to U.K. research company Airfinity. The number of times a Chinese vaccine was used as a booster compared with a first shot plummeted 98% in Pakistan, 93% in Indonesia, 92% in Bangladesh and 74% in Brazil. Beijing-based Bridge Consulting notes that Brazil and Indonesia did not renew contracts that expired last year for Chinese vaccines.
China initially held the lead in COVID-19 vaccine exports after Chinese, U.S. and European drugmakers began commercializing them around the end of 2020. Beijing was quick to supply doses to such regions as Southeast Asia, the Middle East and South America, and the Chinese trio exported more than Pfizer from December 2020 to March 2021. This was partly because Chinese vaccines were the only available option for developing nations since the U.S. and Europe secured large numbers of doses for their own citizens.

China's vaccine diplomacy spoiled by omicron variant -
Nikkei Asia

[harrybarracuda]

Oh look, it's the "dirty farang" again.

Ministry of Public Health officials are on high alert after at least one foreign national was detected carrying an Omicron sub-variant with the potential to cause severe infections, according to the ministry's Department of Medical Sciences.

They really are a witless bunch of c u n t s.

Govt detects 'infectious' sub-variants

[cyrille]

Sounds like you're getting eaten up by 'seekingtaxitis' already.

[harrybarracuda]

One can only assume the chinkies think that, like the Spanish 'flu, this will just go away.

In the meantime, they're happy to just make peoples' lives even more of a misery than they usually are.

Hoohoo, what's happening with this chinky mRNA knock off? Why aren't you telling us?

Meanwhile the chinky government censors make sure no-one knows the truth.

SHANGHAI/BEIJING, May 9 (Reuters) - China's two largest cities tightened COVID-19 curbs on Monday, fuelling public angst and even questions about the legality of its uncompromising battle with the virus that has battered the world's second largest economy.

In Shanghai, enduring its sixth week of lockdown, authorities have launched a new push to end infections outside quarantine zones by late May, according to people familiar with the matter. read more

While there has been no official announcement, residents in at least four of Shanghai's 16 districts received notices at the weekend saying they wouldn't be allowed to leave their homes or receive deliveries, prompting a scramble to stock up on food.

Some of these people had previously been allowed to move around their residential compounds.

"Go home!" a woman shouted through a megaphone at residents mingling below an apartment block impacted by the new restrictions on Sunday, a scene that might baffle other areas of the world that have opted to open up and live with the virus.

"It was like a prison," said Coco Wang, a Shanghai resident living under the new restrictions. "We are not afraid of the virus. We are afraid of this policy."

Meanwhile, in the most severe restrictions imposed in Beijing so far, an area in the southwest of the capital on Monday forbade residents from leaving their neighbourhoods and ordered all activities not related to virus prevention to halt.

In other virus-hit districts of Beijing, residents have been told to work from home, some restaurants and public transport have closed, and additional roads, compounds andThe restrictions have taken a heavy toll on China's economy.

China's export growth slowed to its weakest in almost two years, data on Monday showed, as the central bank pledged to step up support for the slowing economy.

The sluggish data drove China's yuan currency to a near 19-month low against the U.S. dollar.

In a stark sign of the stresses for business, China's auto association estimated that sales last month dropped a staggering 48% year-on-year as COVID restrictions shut factories and crimped domestic demand.

The curbs have also fuelled rare expressions of public anger, further inflamed by recent online accounts of Shanghai authorities forcing neighbours of COVID-positive cases into centralised quarantine and demanding that they hand over the keys to their homes to be disinfected.

One video showed police picking a lock after a resident refused to open a door.

In another, a voice recording of a call circulated on the internet of a woman arguing with officials demanding to spray disinfectant in her home even though she had tested negative. Reuters was not able to independently verify the videos.

Professor Tong Zhiwei, who teaches law at the East China University of Political Science and Law, wrote in an essay widely circulated on social media on Sunday that such acts were illegal and should stop.

Liu Dali, a lawyer from one of China's largest law firms, wrote a similar letter to authorities.

Copies of both letters have been censored from the Chinese internet.

Posts from Tong's social media account on the Weibo site were blocked late on Sunday.

Liu and Tong did not respond to requests for comment.

China is adamant that it will stick to its zero-COVID policy to fight a disease that first emerged in the city of Wuhan in late 2019, warning against criticism of a policy they say is saving lives.

They point to much higher death tolls in other countries that have eased restrictions, or scrapped them altogether, in a bid to "live with COVID" even though infections are spreading.

Beijing has been hoping to avoid the weeks of lockdowns that Shanghai has endured but the growing number of residential buildings under lockdown orders is unnerving residents.

"I've already been working from home but I'm worried I might run out of daily supplies," said a 28-year-old resident of Changping district in north Beijing surnamed Wang after being barred from leaving her compound on Monday.

In response to Reuters questions on the latest restrictions in Shanghai, the municipal government there said it "must insist on regulating the flow and control of the movement of people" and that each district was allowed to tighten measures according to its own situation.

On Monday, Shanghai reported a drop in new cases for the 10th straight day.

But the drop has not eased tensions on the ground.

One video widely shared online showed a group of Shanghai residents confronting police officers and security personnel over whether their hardline measures were legal.

"Not once have I heard that if one compound or one block or residential building has a single confirmed case, then hardline measures of locking up people like criminals are needed," a resident said in the recording.

Reuters could not immediately verify the video, which was later deleted from social media site WeChat.

'''Like a prison''': Shanghai, Beijing ratchet up COVID restrictions | Reuters

[HermantheGerman]

Do I need to be boosterd (3x) in order to enter the U.S. or are two shots o.k.
The way I understand 2x Pfizer for example should be enough.
Thanks

[harrybarracuda]

Sounds like you're getting eaten up by 'seekingtaxitis' already.

Why? Because I think the Thai government are fucking idiots for trying to blame the farang for Covid?

Or because you just wanted something else to whine about?

[harrybarracuda]

The Public Health Ministry will propose declaring Covid-19 endemic on three major tourist islands - Koh Samui in Surat Thani province, Koh Chang in Trat and Phuket - and the reopening of night entertainment venues there.
Health permanent secretary Kiattiphum Wongrajit said on Thursday the ministry would seek approval from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) for its "endemic sandbox" initiative, a first step towards declaring Covid-19 an endemic disease nationwide.
Criteria for the endemic sandbox included declining infections, readiness of medical services and vaccination levels of people in those areas, he said.
"We selected islands that are the country's top tourist destinations first because their areas are limited and diseases can be easily controlled there," Dr Kiattiphum said.

Yeah they did a terrific job in Phuket.

[misskit]

North Korea reports first Covid-19 outbreak, declares emergency


North Korea has confirmed its first-ever case of Covid-19 and declared a “severe national emergency”, with leader Kim Jong Un vowing to “eliminate” the virus, state media said Thursday.


The impoverished, nuclear-armed country has never admitted to a case of Covid-19, with the government imposing a rigid coronavirus blockade of its borders since the start of the pandemic in 2020.


But samples taken from patients sick with fever in the capital were “consistent with” the virus’ highly transmissible Omicron variant, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.


Top officials, including leader Kim Jong Un, held a crisis politburo meeting to discuss the outbreak and announced they would implement a “maximum emergency” virus control system.


Kim told the meeting that “the goal was to eliminate the root within the shortest period of time,” according to KCNA.


“He assured us that because of the people’s high political awareness… we will surely overcome the emergency and win the emergency quarantine project,” it said.


Kim called for tighter border controls and lockdown measures, telling citizens “to completely block the spread of the malicious virus by thoroughly blocking their areas in all cities and counties across the country”.


All business and production activities will be organised so each work unit is “isolated” to prevent the spread of disease, KCNA added.

– No vaccines –
Experts believe North Korea has not vaccinated any of its 25 million people, having rejected offers of vaccinations from the World Health Organisation, and China and Russia.


North Korea’s crumbling health system would struggle to cope with a major virus outbreak, experts have said.


North Korea is surrounded by countries that have battled — or are still fighting to control — significant outbreaks of Omicron.


South Korea, which has high rates of vaccination, has recently eased almost all Covid-19 restrictions, with cases sharply down after an Omicron-fuelled spike in March.


Neighbouring China, the world’s only major economy to still maintain a zero-Covid policy, is battling multiple Omicron outbreaks.


Major Chinese cities, including the financial capital Shanghai, have been under strict lockdowns for weeks.


– Lockdown? –
Seoul-based specialist site NK News reported that areas of Pyongyang had been locked down for two days.


“Multiple sources have also heard reports of panic buying due to uncertainty of when the lockdown might end,” the site reported, citing sources in Pyongyang.


North Korea has long boasted of its ability to keep the virus at bay.


At a military parade in 2020, Kim Jong Un repeatedly and effusively thanked the citizens and military for their loyalty and for remaining healthy in the face of the global coronavirus epidemic.


From January 3 2020 to May 11 this year, there were zero confirmed cases of Covid-19 and zero reported deaths from North Korea, the World Health Organisation said.


State media has previously reported on “epidemic prevention” measures, and civilians have sometimes been shown wearing masks in official photographs.


But at a huge military parade in Pyongyang late last month broadcast by state media, none of the thousands of attendees or participants were seen wearing masks.


North Korea’s health crisis could potentially disrupt the country’s banned weapons launches, analysts said.


Pyongyang has conducted more than a dozen weapons tests so far this year, including firing an intercontinental ballistic missile at full range for the first time since 2017.


Satellite imagery indicates North Korea is preparing to conduct a nuclear test, and the United has warned this could come as soon as this month.


“There is a possibility of delaying the nuclear test in order to focus on overcoming the coronavirus,” Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, told AFP.


But he said if public fears over an outbreak were to spread, Kim might go ahead with a test “to divert this fear to another place”.

North Korea reports first Covid-19 outbreak, declares emergency | Thai PBS World : The latest Thai news in English, News Headlines, World News and News Broadcasts in both Thai and English. We bring Thailand to the world

[harrybarracuda]

A "severe national lockdown" in response to "a case".

Surely fatty doesn't think people will swallow that?

[Cujo]

U.S.hits a million dead from covid.

[harrybarracuda]

U.S.hits a million dead from covid.

It did in post #13404.

[HermantheGerman]

North Korea reports first Covid-19 outbreak, declares emergency

That's great news! Now all Humpty Dumpty need to do is fire another rocket.

Has he thanked the Chinese yet for the virus?

[misskit]

North Korea confirms 21 new deaths as it battles COVID-19

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Saturday reported 21 new deaths and 174,440 more people with fever symptoms as the country scrambles to slow the spread of COVID-19 across its unvaccinated population.


The new deaths and cases, which were from Friday, increased total numbers to 27 deaths and 524,440 illnesses amid a rapid spread of fever since late April. North Korea said 243,630 people had recovered and 280,810 remained in quarantine. State media didn’t specify how many of the fever cases and deaths were confirmed as COVID-19 infections.


The country imposed what it described as maximum preventive measures on Thursday after confirming its first COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. It had previously held for more than two years to a widely doubted claim of a perfect record keeping out the virus that has spread to nearly every place in the world.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a ruling party Politburo meeting on Saturday described the outbreak as a historically “great upheaval” and called for unity between the government and people to stabilize the outbreak as quickly as possible.


Officials during the meeting mainly discussed ways to swiftly distribute medical supplies the country has released from its emergency reserves, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said. In a report presented to the Politburo, the North’s emergency epidemic office blamed most of the deaths on “mistakes like overmuch taking of drugs, bereft of scientific medical treatment.”


Kim, who said he was donating some of his private medicine supplies to help the anti-virus campaign, expressed optimism that the country could bring the outbreak under control, saying most transmissions are occurring within communities that are isolated from one another and not spreading from region to region.


He called for officials to take lessons from the successful pandemic responses of other nations and picked an example in China, the North’s major ally.


China, however, has been facing pressure to change its so-called “zero-COVID” strategy that has brought major cities to a standstill as it struggles to slow the fast-moving omicron variant.


North Korea since Thursday has imposed steps aimed at restricting the movement of people and supplies between cities and counties, but state media’s descriptions of the measures indicate people aren’t being confined to their homes.


Experts say a failure to control the spread of COVID-19 could have devastating consequences in North Korea, considering the country’s poor health care system and that its 26 million people are largely unvaccinated.


Tests of virus samples collected Sunday from an unspecified number of people with fevers in the country’s capital, Pyongyang, confirmed they were infected with the omicron variant, state media said. The country has so far officially confirmed one death as linked to an omicron infection.


Lacking vaccines, antiviral pills, intensive care units and other major health tools to fight the virus, North Korea’s pandemic response will be mostly about isolating people with symptoms at designated shelters, experts say.


North Korea doesn’t have technological and other resources to impose extreme lockdowns like China, which has shut down entire cities and confined residents to their homes, nor it could afford to do so at the risk of unleashing further shock on a fragile economy, said Hong Min, an analyst at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification.


Even as he called for stronger preventive measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, Kim has also stressed that the country’s economic goals should be met, which likely means huge groups will continue to gather at agricultural, industrial and construction sites.


North Korea’s claim of a perfect record in keeping out the virus for 2 1/2 years was widely doubted. But its extremely strict border closure, large-scale quarantines and propaganda that stressed anti-virus controls as a matter of “national existence” may have staved off a huge outbreak until now.


Experts are mixed on whether the North’s announcement of the outbreak communicates a willingness to receive outside help.


The country had shunned millions of doses offered by the U.N.-backed COVAX distribution program, possibly because of concerns over international monitoring requirements attached to those shots.


North Korea has a higher tolerance for civilian suffering than most other nations and some experts say the country could be willing to accept a certain level of fatalities to gain immunity through infection, rather than receiving vaccines and other outside help.


South Korea’s new conservative government led by President Yoon Suk Yeol, who took office on Tuesday, has offered to send vaccines and other medical supplies to North Korea, but Seoul officials say the North has so far made no request for help. Relations between the rival Koreas have worsened since 2019 following a derailment in nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang.


However, Kim's call for his officials to learn from China's experience indicates that the North could soon request COVID-19-related medicine and testing equipment from China, said analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at South Korea's Sejong Institute.


Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Friday that Beijing was ready to offer North Korea help but said he had no information about any such request being made.


North Korea’s viral spread could have been accelerated after an estimated tens of thousands of civilians and troops gathered for a massive military parade in Pyongyang on April 25, where Kim took center stage and showcased the most powerful missiles of his military nuclear program.


After maintaining one of the world’s strictest border closures for two years to shield its poor health care system, North Korea had reopened railroad freight traffic with China in January apparently to ease the strain on its economy. China confirmed the closure of the route last month as it battled COVID-19 outbreaks in the border areas.


Hours after the North acknowledged its first COVID-19 infections on Thursday, South Korea’s military detected the North test-firing three ballistic missiles in what appeared to be a defiant show of strength.


Kim has been accelerating his weapons demonstrations in 2022, including the country’s first intercontinental ballistic missile in nearly five years. Experts say Kim’s brinkmanship is aimed at forcing Washington to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and negotiating a removal of crippling U.S.-led sanctions and other concessions from a stronger position.


South Korean and U.S. officials also say the North is possibly preparing to conduct its first nuclear test since 2017, which they say could happen as early as this month.

North Korea confirms 21 new deaths as it battles COVID-19 | Taiwan News | 2022-05-14 1327

[harrybarracuda]

Why can't this fucking virus take these lunatic despots?

Come on virus, fucking sort it out!

[harrybarracuda]

I wonder when Mr. Shithole is going to realise he will be doing this forever unless he admits his shitty knock-off vaccines don't work?

By the way Hoohoo, any update on the chinky mRNA knock off?

SHANGHAI/BEIJING, May 14 (Reuters) - Shanghai was tightening its COVID-19 lockdown for what it hoped would be the final week of its battle with the virus before it could gradually begin to ease restrictions, while Beijing kept fighting its much smaller but persistent outbreak.

China's commercial hub of 25 million hoped to come out of its painful six-week-old lockdown later this month. Authorities on Saturday were hoping one last round of tightening would eradicate the last infections of the country's worst COVID outbreak of the pandemic.

Many residents of the nation's most populous city, allowed to leave their housing compounds about a week ago for short walks or quick grocery trips, have more recently received notices to stay indoors for a three-day "silent" period.

Many buildings were told overnight that restriction would be extended until Friday. Going silent usually means residents cannot leave home and, in some cases, it can mean no deliveries.

Linette Lim, who has spent more than 40 days under lockdown, said her community received such a notice on Friday, a day after its official risk levels was lowered to a grade that in theory should have led to looser restrictions.

"It's very frustrating because everyone has been asked to make sacrifices, to overcome the present difficulties for the collective good, and people have been consistently complying and coping with whatever is thrown at them," she said.

"But somehow the goalposts keep shifting," said Lim. "Nerves are frayed and people have no end goal to look forward to."

Shanghai hunkers down for final COVID battle, Beijing outbreak stubborn | Reuters

[misskit]

China Witnesses Rise In COVID-19 Numbers With Shanghai Reporting Over 190 New Cases


(CTN News) – The Chinese mainland reported 253 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the Chinese National Health Commission reported on 14 May. Shanghai reported 194 cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, and Beijing reported 32 cases. COVID-19 cases were also reported in Guangdong, Qinghai, Henan, and Sichuan.

For more than a month, Shanghai has been under a strict COVID-19 lockdown. Although the authorities have lifted and reimposed the lockdown at times, the lockdown in Shanghai has now lasted seven weeks. The lockdown in Shanghai is part of the Chinese government’s COVID-19 policy, which has been in place ever since China reported the first cases of the novel virus. In an interview with Vice Mayor Wu Qing, he said they would allow Shanghai to reopen “orderly” once the disease had been eliminated from society, which implies that any new cases will only be discovered among those already living in isolation. Wu Qing didn’t reveal the exact date, nor did he mention how the city with a population of 25 million would be opened.


People facing food shortages and other challenges in Shanghai posted videos on social media venting their anger. These videos have since been removed by censors. Meanwhile, authorities have ordered more daily testing for COVID-19 in Beijing, since the Chinese capital has reported smaller outbreaks of COVID-19. Beijing has suspended classes for students and has ordered people to work from home. Restaurants have been instructed to only offer takeout. As of May 14, China had reported 221,565 confirmed cases and 5,206 deaths. Further, 210,006 people have been cured of COVID-19.

On 10 May, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the “zero-COVID strategy” is not sustainable, taking into account the virus’ behavior. During a press conference, Ghebreyesus said that the “zero-COVID” strategy is not “sustainable,” remarks which were dismissed by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian. Beijing’s “zero-COVID” strategy was defended by Zhao Lijian, who called the WHO’s remarks “irresponsible.” Zhao Lijian said people should look at China’s COVID policy “objectively and rationally,” and that they should avoid making “irresponsible remarks.”


China Witnesses Rise In COVID-19 Numbers With Shanghai Reporting Over 190 New Cases