China's rural health sector caught out by Lunar New Year Covid surge


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Health centres and crematoriums across rural China are feeling the strain from a surge of Covid-19 amid a Lunar New Year travel boom.

After three years of pandemic disruption and strict government measures, including mass testing and expansive lockdowns, China has encouraged and, at times, forced city residents to avoid travelling for work to minimise the spread of infection.

No more. As China hastily and inscrutably dropped such measures in December, the demand for travel escalated.

Within 24 hours of Beijing announcing the end of mandatory quarantine for international arrivals starting on January 8 — just over a week before the Lunar New Year — bookings for inbound flights to mainland China increased by 412 per cent.

A substantial growth of Covid infections has followed, clouding the annual festivities. Official statistics show nearly 60,000 people died from Covid in this recent bout of outbreaks.

Accurate numbers are hard to come by but international organisations estimate a far worse picture.

Airfinity, a data firm in the UK, puts China's daily infection number at 4.5 million with more than 35,000 deaths a day. It says 134 million cases have likely been logged across the country since December 1, with more than 880,000 deaths.

Megacities that have the highest density of population were hit hardest by the first wave due to the ease of viral transmission but authorities warned rural areas would be next as travel numbers soared.

As the army of travellers began their trips, the strain on the underdeveloped and short-staffed healthcare sector in rural areas has become more apparent.

In one clinic in Zhongjiang in the south-western Sichuan province, Lunar New Year celebrations have been soured as medics contend with the worst Covid outbreak in the township yet.

Quan, a village doctor who preferred to be only known by his surname, said the number of patients, especially the elderly, increased dramatically as soon as travel restrictions were lifted.

“We can’t tell these people that they have Covid because they will be so scared,” Quan said, referring to many people who had likely contracted the virus from their relatives returning from cities.

“And none of us [medics] really have any experience treating the disease so all we can do is give them painkillers.”

In the same town, crematoriums are working round the clock to handle the surge of deaths.

Higher death tolls are typically recorded in winter, but according to one person who works at a crematorium in Zhongjiang, who asked not to be named, the number of deaths was “unusually high” and that “obviously” could be attributed to the Covid surge.

“Some people have to call us a few days in advance to make an appointment for the cremation and that has never happened before,” he said.

Despite the alarming rise in cases, some say the fear of Covid has passed as a result of the already prevalent infections across the nation before the travel rush.

Thanks to the Omicron variant’s unparalleled transmissibility and the Chinese population’s virtually non-existent natural immunity from previous infections, a significant number of people in mainland China had already been infected with the virus at a speed almost unseen anywhere else in the past three years.

The season has also brought joy for some, however, as millions were reunited with family members.

For the first time in three years, Shuxia Wang celebrated the Lunar New Year with her family in China’s north-western Gansu province after travelling from Beijing, where she lives.

“I’m so excited to finally be able to see my family,” she said over the phone as she was spending time with her son at a park. “The worst has gone.”

For many who had left China and were effectively denied the means to return due to prolonged quarantine and expensive air fares, it was the day they had yearned for years.

“I’m finally going back home after three years away!” Daria Niu, a Shanghai native who is now studying in the UK, wrote on WeChat, a popular Chinese social media platform. “I need to eat as much Chinese food as I can at the Lunar New Year dinner party!”

On the domestic front, an estimated 2.09 billion trips will be made during the 40-day Lunar New Year travel rush (from January 7 to February 15) – a 99.5 per cent jump from last year, reaching 70.3 per cent of pre-pandemic 2019 levels, according to the Vice Minister of Transportation Chengguang Xu.

“Travel demand very soon responded to the change of anti-pandemic policies,” said Ryan Qiu, a data analyst at Ctrip.com, a China-based travel website. “The Lunar New Year travel rush was expected and the numbers we are seeing are very reflective of people’s confidence in travelling again.”

The boom is currently the biggest human migration on the planet.

Before Wang returned to Gansu, she had already contracted and recovered from the virus. All of her family members had also been infected.

“The last three years felt like a nightmare and all I hope is that our lives will be better from now,” she said.

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4.           Nadia Taryam (UAE) Askaria 3 39.63

5.           Miriam Schneider (GER) Fidelius G 47.74

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In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

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Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

The advice provided in our columns does not constitute legal advice and is provided for information only. Readers are encouraged to seek independent legal advice. 

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Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

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The specs

Price, base / as tested Dh1,100,000 (est)

Engine 5.2-litre V10

Gearbox seven-speed dual clutch

Power 630bhp @ 8,000rpm

Torque 600Nm @ 6,500rpm

Fuel economy, combined 15.7L / 100km (est) 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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TOURNAMENT INFO

Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier

Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November

UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi

Profile of Udrive

Date started: March 2016

Founder: Hasib Khan

Based: Dubai

Employees: 40

Amount raised (to date): $3.25m – $750,000 seed funding in 2017 and a Seed round of $2.5m last year. Raised $1.3m from Eureeca investors in January 2021 as part of a Series A round with a $5m target.

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
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  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

From Zero

Artist: Linkin Park

Label: Warner Records

Number of tracks: 11

Rating: 4/5

What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
 
  • Grade 9 = above an A*
  • Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
  • Grade 7 = grade A
  • Grade 6 = just above a grade B
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Company profile

Name: Infinite8

Based: Dubai

Launch year: 2017

Number of employees: 90

Sector: Online gaming industry

Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor

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Five personal finance podcasts from The National

 

To help you get started, tune into these Pocketful of Dirham episodes 

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The specs

Common to all models unless otherwise stated

Engine: 4-cylinder 2-litre T-GDi

0-100kph: 5.3 seconds (Elantra); 5.5 seconds (Kona); 6.1 seconds (Veloster)

Power: 276hp

Torque: 392Nm

Transmission: 6-Speed Manual/ 8-Speed Dual Clutch FWD

Price: TBC

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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What to watch out for:

Algae, waste coffee grounds and orange peels will be used in the pavilion's walls and gangways

The hulls of three ships will be used for the roof

The hulls will painted to make the largest Italian tricolour in the country’s history

Several pillars more than 20 metres high will support the structure

Roughly 15 tonnes of steel will be used

The specs: 2019 Haval H6

Price, base: Dh69,900

Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder

Transmission: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm

Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km

Hamilton’s 2017

Australia - 2nd; China - 1st; Bahrain - 2nd; Russia - 4th; Spain - 1st; Monaco - 7th; Canada - 1st; Azerbaijan - 5th; Austria - 4th; Britain - 1st; Hungary - 4th; Belgium - 1st; Italy - 1st; Singapore - 1st; Malaysia - 2nd; Japan - 1st; United States - 1st; Mexico - 9th

The biog

Name: Younis Al Balooshi

Nationality: Emirati

Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn

Hobbies: Drawing and reading books about graphic design

Updated: January 27, 2023, 1:36 PM`