Shortly after easing restrictions, China has gotten toppled by a spike in COVID-19 cases, with provinces like Sichuan and Zhejiang recording alarming figures of infection. In Sichuan, a province with a populace of approximately 83 million, over 60% of citizens who took part in an online survey conducted by authorities said that they had tested positive for the virus, according to NHK World.
Out of the 1,58,500 people who participated, 63% said that their PCR or antigen test results were positive. However, the Sichuan Center for Disease Control and Prevention has said that the figure could be much higher, as almost 30% of people who were not tested had reported experiencing symptoms like cough and fever. Chinese media outlets have also reported that in provinces like Yunnan and Shandong, medicines for fever and testing kits are either facing a shortage, or their prices are getting extensively hiked.
On the other hand, the Chinese province of Zhejiang has recorded about one million new COVID-19 cases within a single day, which has drastically caused concerns about disruptions in supply chains, according to Nikkei Asia. Zhejiang, a major commercial hub, lies near Shanghai. The province is populated by about 65 million people, and its key city Hangzhou is home to the largest e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding.
Chinese administration scrambles for solutions as COVID grapples nation
Meanwhile, in its latest attempt to subdue the spread of the virus, the Chinese government has decided to distribute Pfizer antiviral drug Paxlovid in Beijing’s community centres. According to CNN, which cited Chinese state media, doctors in community centers and other healthcare workers are being trained to administer the drug to patients infected with the virus. “We have received the notice from officials, but it is not clear when the drugs will arrive,” an anonymous worker at the local community health centre told local media.
The COVID-19 peak in China comes two weeks after Xi Jinping’s government dismantled its long-running zero-COVID policy after widespread protests raged across China, thus plunging the country into one of its most challenging health crises. With overworked healthcare providers and jampacked hospitals, China continues to face the brunt of a virus that was unleashed over the world two years ago.