Covid: China reports 70% rise in weekly hospitalisations, highest since pandemic began, says WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday (January 19) that China reported a 70% rise in weekly Covid hospitalisations, the highest since the pandemic started. According to the WHO's report based on data submitted by Beijing, the number of people hospitalised rose by 70 % to 63,307 versus the previous week, news agency Reuters reported. However, the United Nations health agency said it was awaiting "detailed provincial data disaggregated by week of reporting" on nearly 60,000 virus-related hospital deaths reported by China last week and did not include them in the tally.

A few days back, the WHO had urged China to share more information on the pandemic and said it will continue to work with the government providing technical advice and support, and engaging in analysing the situation.

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Thursday's development comes as Beijing said that the worst was over in its battle against Covid ahead of the Lunar New Year celebrations. Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, who oversees the country's virus response, said on Thursday the outbreak was at a "relatively low" level. Chunlan's comment comes after health officials said the number of virus patients in clinics, emergency rooms and with critical conditions had peaked.

Zhang Xiangyang, the director of the emergency department at the Beijing Tsinghua Changgeng Hospital told CCTV on Thursday that since mid-December last year, the number of patients received at the ER increased by two to three folds. The CCTV report said that Zhang's department received over 70 Covid patients in critical condition in just one day on January 8, whose average age was over 70 years. Of these, more than 10 recovered and were discharged over the past 10 days, the report added.

South Korea to lift mask mandate for indoor public places from Jan 30

South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said on Friday (January 20) that the government will lift the face mask mandate for most indoor public places from January 30, becoming the latest step to ease Covid rules in the country. However, Prime Minister Duck-soo still recommended that people should keep their faces covered and pointed out that masks will still be required on transport and in medical facilities. During a Covid response meeting, he said, "The daily number of new infections is continuing to decline and despite concerns over a spike in cases in China, the situation here is under control without major troubles," news agency Reuters reported.

The dropping of the mask mandate for public places comes as South Koreans will mark the Lunar Year Holidays during which they will travel to their home towns. Prime Minister Duck-soo also warned during Friday's meeting that the easing of mask rules could cause a temporary surge in new Covid infections, urging health authorities to stay vigilant, especially to those who are more vulnerable to the virus.

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Since the onset of the pandemic, South Korea has recorded more than 29.9 million infections and 33,104 deaths, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO). The government has scrapped most of the Covid-related curbs including dropping the outdoor mask rule in May last year, but it maintains a seven-day isolation for people testing positive for the virus.

Additionally, the South Korean government requires that travellers from China, Macau and Hong Kong should provide a negative Covid test result before departure. As a retaliation,China suspended issuing short-term visasin South Korea. The Chinese embassy in Seoul suspended issuing short-term visas for South Korean visitors on January 10. Taking to WeChat, the embassy said it would adjust the policy subject to the lifting of South Korea's "discriminatory entry restrictions" against Beijing.

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South Korea's foreign minister Park Jin said on January 11 that the visa suspension was deeply regrettable while highlighting that Seoul still issues visas to Chinese visitors with urgent requests. "It's deeply regrettable that China took such a countermeasure by entirely suspending issuance of short-term visas. We make exceptions and issue visas for diplomatic, work, urgent business or humanitarian purposes," Jin told reporters, according to an earlier Reuters report.

(With inputs from agencies)

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