Patients are lying on stretchers in hallways and taking oxygen while sitting in wheelchairs as Covid-19 surges in China’s capital Beijing.
The Chuiyangliu hospital in the city’s east was packed with newly arrived patients on Thursday. By mid-morning, beds had run out even as ambulances continued to ferry those in need.
Hard-pressed nurses and doctors rushed to deal with the most urgent cases.
The surge in severely ill people needing hospital care follows China axing its most severe pandemic curbs last month after nearly three years of lockdowns, travels bans and school closures.
All these weighed heavily on the economy and prompted the worst street protests after the 1980s.
EU, US act
It also comes as the European Union on Wednesday strongly encouraged its member states to impose pre-departure Covid-19 testing of passengers from China.
Over the past week, EU nations have reacted with a variety of restrictions.
Italy, where the pandemic exacted a heavy toll in early 2020, was the first EU member to require coronavirus tests for airline passengers coming from China. France and Spain quickly followed.
The US earlier imposed a requirement that all passengers from China show a negative test result obtained in the previous 48 hours before departure.
China has warned of countermeasures if such policies were to be imposed.
World Health Organisation head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was concerned about the lack of outbreak data from the Chinese government.
China defends itself
But 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. He said Beijing hoped the WHO will take an objective and impartial position to play a positive role in addressing the pandemic globally.
While the first Covid cases were reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, China claimed the virus originated in the US or Europe. It has been accused of withholding data that could help narrow the search for the cause.
In dealing with the latest outbreak, China has sought to get more of its elderly population vaccinated, but those efforts have been hampered by past scandals involving fake medications and warnings about adverse reaction to vaccines among older people.
China’s domestically developed vaccines are considered less effective than the mRNA jabs used elsewhere.
Caution against travel
Meanwhile, authorities in some areas have urged the public to avoid travelling during this month’s Lunar New Year holiday.
“We recommend that everyone not return to their hometowns unless necessary during the peak of the outbreak,” the government of Shaoyang county in Hunan province said.
Similar appeals were issued by Shouxian county in Anhui province southeast of Beijing and the cities of Qingyang in Gansu province in the northwest and Weifang in Shandong on the east coast.
Despite concerns, Hong Kong announced it will reopen its border with mainland China on Sunday and allow tens of thousands of people to cross from each side daily without being quarantined.
The city’s land and sea border checkpoints with the mainland have been largely closed for almost three years and the reopening is expected to provide a much-needed boost to Hong Kong’s tourism and retail sectors.