China announces first COVID-19 death in almost six months

Beijing – China grimly announced its first new death from COVID-19 in almost half a year on Sunday Beijing imposes new measures It is being implemented nationwide to prevent the spread of new infections.

The death of an 87-year-old Beijing man was first reported by the National Health Commission since May 26, bringing the total death toll to 5,227. The previous death was reported in Shanghai, where cases spiked in the spring.

China on Sunday announced 24,215 new cases detected in the past 24 hours, the majority of which were asymptomatic.

In China, overall vaccination coverage with at least one dose is over 92%, but the figure is much lower among the elderly, especially those aged 80 and over, to only 65%. Decrease. The committee did not provide details about the vaccination status of the latest fatality.

That vulnerability is believed to be one of the reasons China keeps its borders mostly closed. Stick to a strict ‘zero COVID’ policy Despite the impact on normal life and the economy and growing public outrage against authorities, it is trying to wipe out the infection through lockdowns, quarantines, case tracking and mass testing.

China says its tough approach has paid off, with far fewer cases and deaths than other countries such as the United States.

China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has only 286,197 officially reported cases since the virus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. This compares with her 98.3 million cases and her 1 million deaths in the United States with a population of 331.9. 1 million since the virus first appeared in 2020.

But based on the ruling Communist Party’s long-established reputation for manipulating statistics, the lack of external scrutiny, and highly subjective criteria for determining causes of death, China’s figures have been called into question. ing.

Unlike in other countries, deaths among symptomatic COVID-19 patients are often attributed to underlying medical conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, obscuring the true number of deaths from the virus and making it virtually certain. lead to underestimation.

Critics particularly pointed to this year’s outbreak in Shanghai. The city of more than 25 million people has reported only about two dozen coronavirus deaths, despite an outbreak that infected hundreds of thousands of people over two months in the world’s third-largest city.

China has also defied advice from the World Health Organization to adopt more targeted prevention strategies. Beijing has resisted calls for full cooperation with investigations into the origin of the virus, angrily rejected suggestions that it may have been leaked from a Wuhan lab, and has instead directed such accusations to the U.S. military. trying to turn to

In all cases, the Communist Party’s instinct for total control triumphed, making only minor concessions to the criticism aired on highly censored Internet forums.

In response to the latest outrage, the central city of Zhengzhou said on Sunday it would no longer require negative COVID-19 tests from infants under the age of three and other “special groups” seeking health care.

The announcement by the Zhengzhou municipal government came after the second child died. Caused by overzealous implementation of antivirus measuresA four-month-old girl died after suffering from vomiting and diarrhea while in quarantine at a hotel in Zhengzhou.

Reports say it took the father 11 hours to get help after medical workers refused to help, and was eventually sent to a hospital 100 kilometers away. and demanded that Zhengzhou city officials be punished for being unhelpful to citizens.

it follows before Protest against the death of a 3-year-old boy From carbon monoxide poisoning in the Northwest. His father blamed medical workers in Lanzhou for trying to stop him from taking his son to the hospital.

Other cases include pregnant women who have miscarried after becoming pregnant. refused admission In the northwestern city of Xian, I was forced to sit outside in the cold for hours.

collision between authorities and residents Despite strict information controls, many cities report being fed up with restrictions. New mass inspections have been ordered in Huizhu District, a manufacturing hub in southern Guangzhou, as it sees friction with migrant workers being forced out of their homes, the local government said on its official microblog on Sunday.

Each such case brings promises from the Communist Party.

However, the Communist Party has often found itself unable to curb the draconian and often unauthorized measures imposed by local officials who fear losing their jobs or being prosecuted should an outbreak occur in areas under their jurisdiction. I was.

Almost three years after the pandemic, the rest of the world has largely opened up and Growing impact on the Chinese economyBeijing has largely closed its borders and discouraged travel within the country as well.

In the capital, Beijing, residents have been told not to travel between cities, and numerous restaurants, shops, malls, office buildings and apartment complexes have been closed or quarantined. 21 million local and international schools in urban areas have moved online.