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Sunday, January 15, 2023

Let's ditch this popsicle stand

"Two airport staff members dismantle a COVID-19 barrier at the arrival level of Pudong Airport's T2 terminal on Saturday night." Image source.

Complete list is here: Index of Posts About the March 2022 Shanghai Covid Outbreak 

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Hi all, here are the links about the current covid situation. If all goes according to plan, my next covid-related update will be "I'm in the US" :D (As I've mentioned in previous posts, I have a US trip planned.)

I haven't left China for 3 years, you guys.

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Links

Sixth Tone

Confronting the Peak of the Epidemic in a Shanghai Hospital (January 12) A video about a hospital in Shanghai which is totally overwhelmed with covid patients. A doctor is calling all the different departments of the hospital trying to find an available bed for a patient.

‘It’s Insane’: China’s Doctors Struggle to Cope Amid COVID Surge (January 12) "Hospitals all over China are struggling to cope as a wave of COVID-19 infections rips through the population. Doctors describe shocking levels of overcrowding, shortages of key supplies, and medical teams weakened by mass infections."

Empty Shelves and Packed Clinics: Rural China in Crisis (January 7) "'I made the rounds of all the pharmacies, large and small. I couldn’t find a single box of ibuprofen or acetaminophen,' she said."

How COVID Misinformation Swamped Chinese Social Media (January 7)

In China, a Dark New Black Market Emerges: Fake COVID Medication (January 6)

COVID Is Rife Inside China’s Colleges. Exams Are Going Ahead Anyway. (January 5) "'Many of us were running a fever,' Tian said. 'I felt like the whole world was coughing, and my head was steaming. I did poorly. I couldn’t even finish my reading in the English exam.'"

COVID Is Spreading Explosively in China. Can Its ICUs Cope? (January 5) A lot of very informative, ominous graphs in this article.

Shanghai Expands Health System Capacity Amid COVID Surge (January 1)

SHINE/ Shanghai Daily/ Xinhua

COVID restrictions on travelers from China another political farce (January 15). LOL. Okay, it is just HILARIOUS how, now that zero-covid has ended, and some countries have made new policies about covid-testing for travelers coming from China, the Chinese government is like, "Well I never. I am shocked- SHOCKED!" Like... we all remember that for the past 3 years, China has put AN ABSURD number of rules on travelers entering the country, right? And now some other countries are requiring testing and possibly quarantine (looking at you, South Korea and Japan), which is honestly pretty tame compared to all the hoops that people had to jump through to get into China.

China reports 59,938 COVID-related deaths in over a month (January 14) I personally don't know if this number is realistic or not- maybe need to spend more time tracking down the math on it.

The travel itch: China's reopening releases pent-up demand for overseas tourism (January 14)

'It is just like it was three years ago' (January 11) I like the part where they interview the foreign pilots- "Yeah, we've been coming up for the last 3 years, but no, it hasn't been open like this, obviously. We've been stuck in a closed-loop system out at the airport and everybody's been wearing space suits. So yeah, it's good to be out." 

And "It is surreal, you know, that all of a sudden- Yesterday, everyone was in the PPE, and today you look around and we're back in this building. We're not on a bus going to get processed at a different location in the airport. Coming, it's just like it was 3 years ago."

WHO official urges science-based, non-discriminatory COVID entry restrictions (January 11)

Free PCR tests stopped with new procedures required for testing (January 10)

China halts short-term visas in South Korea, first response to COVID curbs (January 10) "The Chinese embassy in South Korea has suspended issuing short-term visas for South Korean visitors, it said on Tuesday, the first retaliatory move against nations imposing COVID-19 curbs on travellers from China."

China receives over 250,000 inbound passenger trips on first day of new COVID policy (January 9)

Shanghai greets first international arrivals, with no COVID limitations (January 8) 

China's grassroots fever clinics treat majority of patients (January 8)

A review of the travel regulations in effect since 2020 (January 7) This is a really informative timeline. Though I find it a bit odd that nothing happened in 2021.

Spring Festival travel rush begins amid COVID-19 response shift (January 7) Yes, this is a huge deal. In the Before Times, Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) was when everyone traveled to their hometown. Every year it was a MASSIVE migration of people. And then, during the pandemic, we didn't really do that because the government kept telling us not to travel. But now that zero-covid is over, suddenly everyone (myself included!) is super excited that "oh man, this year I can finally see my family during Chinese New Year!" So A LOT of travel going on.

China's latest COVID-19 control protocol highlights vaccination, personal protection (January 7) 

Working with emergency services during COVID: 120 for ambulance (January 6) "I've been a Dazhong company taxi driver for nearly 7 years. ... Our company told us about this situation. I saw there was a labor shortage of ambulance drivers, so I applied for it."

Key COVID-19 policy changes from January 8 (January 6) This is a nice infographic.

No more free PCR tests in Shanghai from Sunday (January 6) Yes, they will no longer be free. They will be 16 RMB (about 2 USD).

Beijing sees declining outpatient, emergent treatment demands (January 6) "Li Ang, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, said at a press conference that patients admitted to fever clinics dropped from the peak of 73,000 on December 15, 2022, to 12,000 on Wednesday, and the number of emergency admissions fell from the peak of 52,000 on December 30, 2022, to the current 42,000." Lol remember when China was pretending there were only like 1000 new covid cases per day?

No on-arrival PCR test, central quarantine for inbound travelers (January 6)

A long night on the last day of the year at Renji Hospital (January 5) "There are too many critical patients. In the past, not all the patients were in severe condition, but now all of them are in bad condition, and they all need oxygen, but the problem is, we have no more left."

Temperature checks at Metro stations a thing of the past (January 5) Yeah so, there have been IR cameras at the subway stations in Shanghai to check people's temperatures. (Or, before the IR cameras were installed, there was a very bored security guard sort of using a contactless thermometer on everyone's wrist as they walked through.) But, with the policy changes, they're not going to be checking people's temperatures anymore. Uh, okay, great, but really this whole temperature-checking thing was always a joke. There were several times that my son had a fever, and we took the subway to take him to the fever clinic, and nobody seemed to notice his temperature.

Shanghai defines COVID-19 serious, critical cases (January 4) 

Community hospitals equipped to offer early COVID detection, tiered treatment (January 3)

Paxlovid now available at city community hospitals (January 3)

New York Times

This Is What Shanghai’s Covid Outbreak Looks Like (January 10) Powerful photos here.

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