China said Wednesday it would stop reporting asymptomatic COVID-19 cases since they've become “impossible” to track with mass testing no longer required, another step in the country's uncertain exit from some of the world's strictest antivirus policies.
China last week announced its most significant easing yet of antivirus measures and has begun to see what appears to be a rapid increase in new infections, raising concerns that its health system could become overwhelmed as those in other countries did during early COVID waves.
China's government-supplied figures have not been independently verified and questions have been raised about whether the ruling Communist Party has sought to minimize numbers of cases and deaths. “Beijing is really confused right now,” said one resident, surnamed Zhu. “They made a complete 180-degree turn without even going through a transitionary period.”
In the usually bustling streets around the ancient imperial palace complex in the heart of Beijing, Huang Hanxin said he was making good use of the lack of crowds. Residents of other major cities such as Guangzhou and Shanghai reached by telephone or messaging app also reported quiet streets. All have modern health infrastructure but lower-tier cities and rural areas are less prepared to respond and are more likely to become overwhelmed.
A man coming out had bought two packages of Lianhua Qingwen, a Chinese herbal remedy, saying that each customer was restricted from buying any more than that.Without asymptomatic cases being counted, China reported just 2,249 “confirmed” infections Wednesday, bringing the nation's total to 369,918 - more than double the level on Oct. 1. It has recorded 5,235 deaths - compared with 1.1 million in the United States.
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