COVID surge in China again after dismantling ZERO Covid policy

China braces for COVID surge after dropping zero-Covid policy
Fever clinics in Beijing jumped to 16 times to 22,000

After unprecedented protests China tries to align with a world that has largely reopened to live with COVID.However,Covid cases are surging in the Chinese capital, officials said on Monday, as the country navigates a rapid turn away from its zero-tolerance coronavirus strategy.

The number of patients in fever clinics in Beijing on Sunday has jumped to 16 times more from a week earlier to 22,000, showing that the COVID-19 epidemic is spreading quickly in the city, said a local health official,reports China Daily.

The number of people calling for emergency medical help also jumped significantly. On Dec 9. over 31,000 emergency medical calls were made, marking a six-time increase from the average level, he said at a news conference.

China reported 8,626 domestic infections on Monday but with testing no longer mandatory for much of the population, the number is believed to be a lot higher.

China dropped mandatory testing prior to many public activities, reined in quarantine and by early Tuesday will have deactivated a state-mandated mobile app used to track the travel histories of a population of 1.4 billion people.

China has removed most of its domestic covid curbs, its international borders are still largely closed to foreigners, including tourists.Inbound travellers are subjected to five days of quarantine at centralised government facilities and three additional days of self-monitoring at home.