WUHAN, Jan 1 (Reuters) January,1 – Thousands of Chinese took to the seets to mark the New Year as authorities and state media sought to reassure the public that the COVID-19 outbreak sweeping across the country was under control and nearing its peak.
Though many people in major cities have continued to isolate as the virus spreads through the population, New Year revelries appeared to be mostly unaffected as people celebrated the end of 2022 and the turn into 2023.
In Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first identified at the end of 2019, residents said anxieties about the impact of easing strict zero-COVID restrictions to live with the disease had now abated – at least for the young and healthy.
“Basically, now my friends and I feel relatively positive and optimistic,” said a 29-year old tutor surnamed Wu. “Many people are going out and about.”
“We all know that especially for the middle-aged and the elderly, especially those over 60 years old, especially those with underlying diseases, they will be affected by this virus,” he said.
A long line of people queued at the emergency department of Wuhan’s Tongji Hospital, a major facility for COVID-19 patients, such as 72-year-old resident Huang, who wanted to be identified by her surname only. “I feel sick. I have no energy. I can’t breathe. I’ve been healthy for a long time,” she said. The rising number of cases has raised new concerns about the health of the economy. In his first public statement after his policy change, President Xi Jinping called for more effort and unity in his New Year’s address as China enters a “new phase.”
China reported one new death from COVID-19 on the mainland on Dec. 31, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This is the same as the previous day.
China’s cumulative official death toll is now 5,249, far lower than other major countries. The government denies allegations that it deliberately under-reported the total number of deaths. On occasion, mourners and hearse drivers arrived at the Hankou Funeral Home on the outskirts of Wuhan on Sunday.
Staff at the site’s heavily guarded entrance declined to answer questions about their recent workload. He said he has become busier than ever since he lifted the
China’s CDC reported 5,138 officially confirmed cases on Saturday, but experts say the true number of infections is much higher as mass testing has ceased.
State media in the southeastern Chinese city of Guangzhou said on Sunday that daily cases recently peaked at around 60,000 and are now at around 19,000. Antigen test kit production nearly doubled in a month to 110 million per day.
On Sunday, Australia and Canada joined the United States and others by requiring travelers from China to present a negative COVID-19 test upon arrival. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Morocco will ban entry from China.
Australia’s Health Minister Mark Butler said additional measures were being considered amid concerns that China was not disclosing enough information about the nature and extent of the current outbreak.
