According to The Diplomat, all provincial capitals declared a Stage 1 emergency before the provincial governments did, in order to accelerate emergency governance measures. However, the length and form of these lockdowns varied greatly.
Since China abandoned its zero-COVID policy, its domestic challenges have increased, youth unemployment is high, the economy is slowing down, and COVID infections and deaths have accelerated.
Many reports from China have suggested that hospitals in highly-populated cities, including Shanghai and Beijing are overflowing with patients despite officials claiming that the outbreak had peaked last month.
A senior WHO official, as quoted by The Hong Kong Post, had said: "China's COVID data is not giving an accurate picture of the situation there and it under-represents the number of hospitalizations and deaths from the disease."
China needs a good Covid 19 booster vaccine like Covovax, but so far there hasn't been a positive response from China, said Chief Executive Officer of Serum Institute of India (SII), Adar Poonawalla on Wednesday.
The acute shortage of natural gas has worked as fuel to the Chinese who are already angry with the government because of the pandemic. These reactions spilt over into caustic complaints on social media.
According to a statement by the Thai Ministry of Commerce, exports in December 2022 dropped by 14.6 per cent year-on-year to approximately 21.7 billion dollars. It was the third straight month of decline. Exports to China fell by 20.8 per cent.
National leaders and international agencies have remained silent about the origin of Covid during the recent summits of the United Nations, G7, and G20, stated New York-based Magazine National Review, adding that mainstream media has also not critically covered or scrutinised the question re
Chinese epidemiologist Wu Zunyou warned that Covid infection numbers in certain specific regions could rise during this Lunar New Year, state media outlet Global Times reported.