Beds run out at hospital as COVID-19 spreads

BEIJING (AP):

Mostly older men and women wearing masks rested on cots in hallways, while others slept upright in crowded waiting rooms with numbered chairs. Many received fluids intravenously, while others were given oxygen. The sound of people coughing — and of new patients arriving on gurneys — was steady.

At the Chuiyangliu hospital in the east of Beijing on Thursday, signs of the COVID-19 outbreak stretching public health facilities in the world’s most populous nation were on full display.

Beds ran out by midmorning at the packed hospital, even as ambulances brought more people in. Hard-pressed nurses and doctors rushed to take information and triage the most urgent cases.

The crush of people seeking hospital care follows China’s abandonment of its most severe pandemic restrictions last month after nearly three years of lockdowns, travel bans and school closures that weighed heavily on the economy and prompted unusual street protests in a country that quashes political dissent.

The outbreak appears to have spread the fastest in densely populated cities first. Now, the authorities are concerned as it reaches smaller towns and rural areas with weaker healthcare systems. Several local governments began asking people on Thursday not to make the trip home for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, signalling lingering worry around opening up.

Overseas, a growing number of governments are requiring virus tests for travellers from China, saying they are needed because the Chinese government is not sharing enough information on the outbreak. The European Union (EU) on Wednesday “strongly encouraged” its member states to impose pre-departure COVID-19 testing, though not all have done so.

Italy — the first place in Europe where the pandemic exacted a heavy toll in early 2020 — became the first EU member to require tests for passengers from China last week, and France and Spain followed with their own measures. The US is requiring a negative test result for travellers from China within 48 hours of departure.

China has criticised the requirements and warned of countermeasures against countries imposing them.

World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday he was concerned about the lack of outbreak data from the Chinese government.

At a daily briefing on Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing has consistently “shared information and data with the international community in an open and transparent manner”.

“At present, China’s COVID-19 situation is under control,” Mao said.

On Sunday, many remaining restrictions — some already not being enforced — will be lifted.