China’s transport ministry urged people to take fewer trips and gather less frequently on Friday, January 6. This is especially important if there are young children, the elderly, pregnant women, or people with underlying medical conditions present. According to an Associated Press article, the government is attempting to reduce the likelihood of a significant new Covid outbreak this month during the busy travel season for the Lunar New Year.
In a press conference, the vice minister of transportation Xu Chengguang advised wearing masks and paying close attention to one’s health and cleanliness when taking public transportation.
A record-breaking increase in Covid infections, a stressed-out healthcare system, a lack of life-saving medications, and a low immunization rate among the elderly are all contemporary issues in China. The government immediately eased the severe limitations of lockdowns, mass testing, and quarantines in December of last year.
The government will abolish the requirement that visitors to China from outside undergo mandatory quarantines on Sunday, January 8.
According to a report published on Friday by the Associated Press, the current Covid outbreak in China appears to have spread most quickly in crowded locations. Government officials are increasingly concerned about the virus’s potential to spread to smaller towns and rural areas lacking medical facilities like ICU beds.
Many rural residents struggle to find nearby medical care and medications. People who are dissatisfied with the poor quality of rural healthcare would forego local doctors and seek treatment in urban hospitals, according to Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the Council of Foreign Relations, who spoke to AFP on Friday.
Many nations have criticized China for withholding important information about the pandemic, especially regarding the potential emergence of new Covid strains. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated on Wednesday that the current viral statistics released by Beijing significantly underestimated the true impact of Covid in terms of hospitalizations and fatalities.
An increasing number of nations are also requiring obligatory virus testing for travelers arriving from China, a practice that Beijing has sharply criticized.
