The COVID-19 epidemic is exploding in China, but its extent is now “impossible” to determine, the Ministry of Health conceded on Wednesday, as tests are no longer mandatory since the sudden easing of health restrictions.
Beijing and its 22 million inhabitants are particularly affected by this wave of contamination, totally unprecedented in the city since the beginning of the pandemic and which has spread at lightning speed in recent days.
Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said infections were “rising rapidly” in the capital. Many Beijingers claim on social media to be sick and some companies have reported 90% of their staff indisposed.
These massive contaminations in Beijing are a shock for many Chinese, because only a tiny minority of the country’s 1.4 billion inhabitants had been infected with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
Last week, China drastically relaxed its health restrictions against the disease, which were intended to limit contamination and deaths as much as possible.
The authorities notably decreed the end of automatic placement in a quarantine center for people who tested positive and the end of massive screening campaigns via PCR tests – which were almost compulsory.
Consequence: the number of people who take the initiative to carry out a PCR test has fallen sharply. Logically, the number of detected cases plunges, giving the false impression of an improvement in the situation.
Self-tests and vaccines
The Ministry of Health has thus confirmed that the official statistics no longer reflect reality.
“Most people with the virus but asymptomatic no longer do PCR tests, so it is impossible to have an accurate idea of the true number of people infected,” he said.
The overwhelming majority of Chinese people now do self-tests at home, slipping under the radar of health authorities.
Contrary to the zero COVID strategy that it has long defended at all costs, the government now seems determined to continue the reopening of the country.
But this epidemic wave, which is expected to spread to other parts of the country, could be hard hit by the hospital system, especially in the less favored areas of the country.
The other concern is for the elderly, millions of whom, through personal choice or lack of access to a doctor, are poorly vaccinated.
Among those over 80, only 66.4% have a complete vaccination schedule (three doses), health authorities said on Wednesday.
They also announced that certain groups at risk, in particular those over 60, can now be administered a fourth dose.
If restaurants, cinemas, shopping centers or even parks have gradually reopened in recent days in Beijing, the streets remain paradoxically little frequented despite the lifting of the vast majority of restrictions.
“Not very worried”
Many sick residents prefer to stay at home to take care of themselves, others are afraid of being contaminated or of catching cold when leaving at -5°C and some businesses have had to close because too many employees were sick.
“We have freedom of movement now,” welcomes an octogenarian to AFP who says he is “not very worried” about the Omicron variant.
“But you shouldn’t relax too much and give too much freedom right away. ‘Cause if you die, where’s the freedom, right? »
Several establishments in the capital, such as restaurants, continue to require a negative PCR test dating back less than 48 hours.
In front of a hospital in Beijing, around fifty feverish patients were waiting on Wednesday to see a doctor.
“I came to accompany an elderly member of my family. He’s had a fever for almost 10 days, so we’ve come to do some tests,” a 50-year-old told AFP.
“People only come here” in the event of “significant symptoms”, otherwise they treat themselves at home, she underlines.
Some residents have built up excessive reserves of self-tests and anti-cold or anti-fever medicines in recent days, which have emptied the stocks of pharmacies.
Search engine Baidu reported that searches for the word “ibuprofen”, a fever and flu medication that is now on everyone’s lips in China, had increased by 430% in one week.