Facing COVID Surge, China Expanding Hospitals, ICUs

In response to an increase in COVID-19 cases, China is building additional intensive care units and working to fortify hospitals as Beijing lifts restrictions on anti-virus software that kept millions of people inside their homes, stunted economic growth, and sparked unrest.

As the final big nation to attempt to limit viral transmission, the government of President Xi Jinping is formally committed to doing so. The Communist Party in power appears to be winding down its "zero-COVID" strategy, but the most recent actions indicate that it will allow additional cases without imposing quarantines or halting travel or business.

According to state media, a Cabinet meeting on Thursday ordered for the "full mobilisation" of hospitals, including hiring more staff to ensure their "combat efficacy" and increasing medicine supplies. Officials were told to keep track of the health of everyone in their area aged 65 and older.

Uncertainty surrounds the extent of the rise in infection rates since Beijing last week stopped requiring testing as frequently as once per day in certain locations. Interviews and social media posts, however, claim that outbreaks are occurring in workplaces and schools all around the nation. Due to an excessive number of sick workers, some restaurants and other companies have had to close.

The community authority in Beijing's Runfeng Shuishang area posted on its social media account on Saturday that the virus testing facility had closed down since all of its personnel had been exposed. It said, "Please be patient.

Official case counts are declining, but they no longer fully represent the population because many locations' obligatory testing ended on Wednesday. That was part of dramatic changes that confirmed Beijing was trying gradually to join the United States and other governments that ended travel and other restrictions and are trying to live with the virus.

The authorities announced 10,815 new cases on Sunday, including 8,477 cases with no symptoms. That only includes persons who get tested after being admitted to hospitals or for work in schools and other higher-risk areas, although it was barely a fourth of the daily peak above 40,000 from the previous week.

According to Yun Chunfu, an employee of the provincial health commission, Shaanxi province in the west has set aside 22,000 hospital beds for COVID-19 and is prepared to convert other beds to enhance its critical care capacity by 20%. For "critically ill patients," Yun claimed that cities are "accelerating the upgrading" of hospitals.

"Each city is required to designate a hospital with strong comprehensive strength and high treatment level" for COVID-19 cases, Yu was cited as saying at a news conference.