In China, the number of patients with COVID-19 is increasing every day after Beijing lifted the pandemic restrictions.

The New York Times writes about it.

Hospital emergency rooms in northern China are overcrowded.

The medical system in the PRC is already at the limit of its capabilities, the source reports.

"The hospital is running at the limit. About 80-90% of the people around me are infected," said doctor Dr. Judy Pu.

The true extent of China's public health emergency is currently difficult to assess, in part because the Chinese government has abandoned mass testing after abruptly lifting strict measures in the "zero COVID" country.

"The insufficient level of vaccination in the country, as well as the lack of herd immunity, have raised fears that the number of deaths could reach those observed earlier during the pandemic in the United States, Western Europe and Hong Kong," writes The New York Times.

Data released by local authorities confirm that the virus is spreading, with hundreds of thousands of infections reported daily from several cities and provinces.

"There are also many questions about the number of coronavirus-related deaths reported by China, as officials only count those who died from respiratory failure directly linked to the infection. Seven people have officially died from the virus after easing pandemic rules December 7, and this figure refutes unofficial data from the whole country," the publication reports.

Against the background of the spread of the coronavirus in China, the country is expecting an aggravation of the personnel crisis, since in January, millions of doctors will go home on the eve of the New Year celebration according to the lunar calendar.

DW also commented on the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Experts note that the coronavirus can turn China into a "brake on the world economy."

"The sudden sharp turn of the Chinese authorities from a strict policy of "zero tolerance for covid" to the complete cancellation of almost all measures to combat the pandemic has caused concern far beyond the country's borders. The crisis in the local real estate market, which has been simmering for many years, increases the anxiety. Back in June, the World Bank predicted the growth of the Chinese economy by 4.3% in 2022 and by 8.1% in 2023," financial analysts noted.

It was previously reported that almost 248 million people, or 18% of the country's population, fell ill with COVID since the beginning of winter in the PRC.

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