China’s sudden easing of restrictions on December 7 after three years of a zero-COVID policy has left many hospitals unprepared to deal with the current surge of cases in many Chinese cities.
Fever clinics in the Chinese capital and around the country reported long lines on Monday, even as Beijing continued to swiftly dismantle its zero-COVID infrastructure with further easing of restrictions.
The government said starting Tuesday, it will discontinue one of the key elements of that infrastructure: a mandatory “travel card” app that tracked every person’s movement based on their mobile phones and listed their recent locations. Visiting a high-risk city or province could mean being unable to travel, as the app was required for entry into many public buildings and the biggest obstacle for unhindered domestic travel in China under the earlier zero-COVID rules.
The easing of restrictions, prompted by rising economic and social costs as well as widespread protests last month, has led to an expected surge in COVID-19 cases.
The rapid change of policy has, however, caught many hospitals off-guard, and left them scrambling to deal with cases and segregate patients according to risk.
Hospitals haven’t been given enough time to come up with detailed protocols to deal with the flood of cases. Local authorities in many cities have urged residents to not seek treatment at hospitals for mild cases. There is, however, considerable fear over contracting COVID-19 after three years of messaging emphasising its dangers.
Media outlet Caixin reported on Monday that measures to separate COVID-patients from others in hospitals “can not keep up with the surging number of infections.”
“A doctor at a Beijing hospital said about 20% of the hospital’s doctors were off duty due to their own infections or close contact with infected patients, leaving the rest of staff a heavier workload,” the report said. “A doctor at a Guangzhou hospital said the hospital is severely understaffed as more than 200 people have been dispatched to makeshift quarantine hospitals.”
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In Wuhan, authorities on December 1 published a list of 42 fever clinics, designed to ease the burden on hospitals, but some closed shortly after because of infected staff.
The bigger concern is the treatment of severe cases that usually follow an initial surge, with hospitals in the past year pushing to increase the number of ICU beds. Authorities are also rushing to vaccinate the elderly, with 60% of the 30 million above 80 population yet to complete three doses required to prevent hospitalisation.
