Beijing fever clinic, morgue busy as China battles COVID surge

Record ID: 1705195

  • Title: Beijing fever clinic, morgue busy as China battles COVID surge
  • Date: 4th January 2023
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (JANUARY 4, 2023) (REUTERS) AMBULANCE PULLING UP/ AMBULANCE PARKED IN FRONT OF FEVER CLINIC STAFF DISINFECTING INTERIOR OF AMBULANCE MEDICAL STAFF IN PPE STANDING IN FRONT OF FEVER CLINIC / SECURITY STAFF LOOKING ON SECURITY STAFF’S HAND BLOCKING CAMERA LENS / SECURITY STAFF SAYING (Mandarin): “NO FILMING!” VARIOUS OF PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF MORGUE NEXT TO FEVER CLINIC (SOUNDBITE) (English) 66-YEAR-OLD BEIJING RESIDENT AND RETIREE, SURNAME ZHANG, SAYING: "Some people told me the government released the number, that was the single digit number of the deaths, that is totally ridiculous and not credible, you know. As far as I know, my close relatives, among them, there are four that died already, that is from one family. So I hope the government will honestly and credibly tell its people and people in the world what’s really happened here." TRAFFIC ON STREET PEDESTRIANS ON NEIGHBOURHOOD PEDESTRIAN WALK WOMAN WALKING DOGS ON PEDESTRIAN WALK MAN CLEANING TROLLY (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 55-YEAR-OLD BEIJING RESIDENT AND RETIREE, SURNAME YUAN, SAYING: “When other countries encountered this kind of problem they also took similar measures. In 2020 and 2021, when there were other (COVID) issues abroad, China also took similar measures, including even suspending some flights. It might be because of the intensity of these measures (taken by China), that other countries are taking more serious measures against travellers coming from China. So I can understand this kind of thing.” TRAFFIC ON STREET PEDESTRIANS CROSSING CROSSWALK
  • Embargoed: 18th January 2023 06:17
  • Keywords: COVID-19 China WHO coronavirus health restrictions travel
  • Location: BEIJING, CHINA
  • City: BEIJING, CHINA
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Health/Medicine
  • Reuters ID: LVA001024304012023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A local Beijing fever clinic and a nearby morgue appeared busy on Wednesday (January 4) morning, as China continues to battle surging COVID-19 infections after a dramatic U-turn from its original zero-COVID policy.
    China reported five new COVID-19 deaths for Tuesday (January 3), compared with three a day earlier, bringing the official death toll to 5,258, very low by global standards.
    But the toll is widely believed to be much higher. British-based health data firm Airfinity has said about 9,000 people in China are probably dying each day from COVID.
    A Reuters reporter saw a continuous flow ambulances outside a fever clinic connected to a major hospital in western Beijing. One local resident, surname Zhang, said he had already lost four members of his immediate due to COVID-related deaths.
    "Some people told me the government released the number, that (it) was the single digit number of the deaths, that is totally ridiculous and not credible… As far as I know, my close relatives, among them, there are four that died already, that is from one family,” said Zhang, who declined to give his first name.
    China's axing of its stringent virus curbs last month has unleashed COVID on a 1.4 billion population that has little natural immunity having been shielded from the virus since it emerged in its Wuhan city three years ago.
    Funeral homes have reported a spike in demand for their services, hospitals are packed with patients, and international health experts predict at least one million deaths in China this year.
    (Production: Alessandro Diviggiano)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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