The Chinese found themselves alone in their fight against Covid. So they decided to join hands

After China abruptly cancelled its zero-Covid policy, the virus has taken over a majority of the population. Hospitals are overflowing with patients, medical supplies are running low and crematoriums are overwhelmed with bodies. A huge number of deaths are being reported, although Beijing doesn't attribute most of them to COVID-19.

A few days back, an official at the Chinese National Health Commission’s medical affairs department said that around 60,000 Covid-related deaths have been recorded in the country between December 8 and January 12. The country has adopted a controversial definition of Covid deaths, saying only those deaths that have occurred directly as a result of Covid minus any underlying issues will be defined as Covid deaths.

With the health system unable to manage the scale of the disease, most people have been left to fend for themselves. There is a shortage of medicines, test kits and other such supplies.

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Amidst this dire situation, people have come together to help each other. There are apps offering test kits and medicines to those in need via donations. A Straits Times report mentions how one woman suffering from a high fever, was hoping that the government will hand out medicines to her and her daughter.

But when that did not happen, she turned to one such app where one stranger offered her two test kits and another who had recovered from Covid-19, offered to provide two ibuprofen pills.

A country that was following everything that the government was telling them to do for the past three years during the pandemic, suddenly finds itself alone.

President Xi Jinping urged the public at the beginning of 2023 to “make an extra effort to pull through” the virus wave. Even the state media told people to “take primary responsibility for their own health".

Just ahead of the Chinese New Year, Xi tried to install hope in the people, saying “dawn is just ahead.” Acknowledging for the first time that the current Covid wave has been "fierce", he expressed concerns over the spread of the virus in the countryside where medical facilities and resources are insufficient.

However, there are many people who contracted the infection and didn't receive any help or support from the government.

This is when groups and companies at the grassroots level came together to help those in need. They have come up with initiatives coordinating medicine supplies and offering health advice. They are also helping out people in rural areas.

The WeChat app mentioned above was launched on December 19 and saw over a million visits and more than 800,000 posts immediately.

The Campaign to Bring Down Fever in Villages collects donated ibuprofen and has sent medicines to about 13,000 elderly residents in 110 villages as of December 29.

NCP Relief, founded when the virus was first reported, provides data on hospital bed availability in major cities including Beijing and Shanghai.

Experts say that non-availability of the government during the citizens' time of need reflects poorly on it and might have shaped public opinion against it.

(With inputs from agencies)

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