China reported this Saturday 2,286 new cases of Covid-19 detected the day before, compared to 2,157 the day before, according to the National Health Commission, which in the previous days had registered a decrease in the number of infections despite the fact that many cities are dealing with regrowth.
In recent times, Chinese cities have canceled the constant PCR test campaigns for all their residents that had been common for months, which translates into the detection of fewer infected people.
In addition, the health authorities this week stopped counting asymptomatic cases because “it is no longer possible to determine their real number.”
Of the 2,286 cases detected on Friday, 2,229 are local and 35 imported, with most of the infections by local transmission located in Guangzhou (southeast), Beijing and Chongqing (center).
According to the Commission’s accounts, since the start of the pandemic the country has registered a total of 376,361 infections and 5,235 deaths, with 34,334 active cases -227 of them serious- at this time.
In recent days, the official press has begun to minimize the risk of the omicron variant through numerous articles and interviews with experts, a turn of argument that accompanies the relaxation of some of the strictest measures of the ‘zero’ policy. Covid-19′, in force for almost three years.
The authorities have already stated that the “conditions” are in place for the country to “adjust” its measures in this “new situation” in which the virus causes fewer deaths, although they have also announced a plan to accelerate vaccination of the elderly, one of the most vulnerable groups but at the same time more reluctant to be inoculated.
Likewise, the Chinese Executive announced this month that it will allow those infected with asymptomatic or mild symptoms to isolate themselves at home – until now, transfer to a quarantine center was mandatory – and indicated that it will no longer be necessary to have a negative Covid-19 test. to enter most places and establishments, with the exception of hospitals or schools.
The changes came after the weariness of the restrictions crystallized in protests in various parts of the country after the death of ten people in an apparently confined building in Urumqi (northwest), with slogans such as “I don’t want PCR, I want to eat” or “give me back my freedom”.
The Government defends that it has saved millions of lives through the ‘zero covid’, which consists of the isolation of all those infected and their close contacts, strict border controls, partial or total confinement in places where cases are detected and constant PCR tests to the urban population. EFE
