Chinese people, cut off from the rest of the world for three years by Covid-19 curbs, have flocked to travel sites ahead of borders reopening, even as rising infections strained the health system and roiled the economy
Zero-tolerance measures - from shuttered borders to frequent lockdowns - have battered China's economy since early 2020, fuelling last month the mainland's biggest show of public discontent since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.
Doctors say hospitals are overwhelmed with five- to six-times more patients than usual, most of them elderly. "It finally feels as if China has turned the corner," AmCham China Chairman Colm Rafferty said of the imminent lifting of the quarantine rule. Once the border with Hong Kong reopens next month, mainland Chinese would be able to take BioNTech-made mRNA vaccines, seen as more effective than those available on the mainland.China's classification of Covid will also be downgraded to the less strict Category B from the current top-level Category A from 8 January, the health authority said, meaning authorities will no longer be compelled to quarantine patients and close contacts and impose lockdowns.
Many shops in Shanghai, Beijing and elsewhere have closed in recent days with staff unable to come to work, while some factories have already sent many of their workers on leave for the late January Lunar New Year holidays.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Chinese people make travel plans with Covid-19 curbs set to ease after three yearsWorld’s second-largest economy expected to rebound late next year, once initial shockwave of infections fades
Read more »
Christmas in Covid isolation: 'The cheerful nihilism kept us going'Missing Christmas was the ultimate in worst-case scenarios for Sarah Finnan, but thanks to Covid, it happened. Terrible as it was, it also taught her
Read more »
UK to stop publishing Covid R number as cases fallThe UK will stop publishing the Covid-19 R number that measures how quickly the disease is spreading among the population, saying it was not needed anymore thanks to vaccines and drugs.
Read more »
Thousands return post-Covid to Leopardstown for St Stephen’s Day festivalRace meeting was suddenly closed to the public last year because of escalating Covid-19 numbers
Read more »
Antimicrobial resistance pandemic potentially looms in shadow of CovidPeople are dying from common, once-treatable infections because bacteria have become resistant to treatment
Read more »
Staff and bed shortages compound the ‘superbug’ threat to patients in hospitalThe presence of superbugs in Irish hospitals has risen since Covid restrictions were lifted
Read more »