China gives up reporting Covid-19 figures as virus rips through population

Chinas National Health Commission has announced that it will no longer be publishing daily Covid19 infection figures as the virus rips through the population with the abandonment of rolling lockdowns mass tracking of citizens and compulsory testing according to a media reportAs of today we will no longer release daily statistics on the pandemic with any data released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention for the purposes of reference and research the health ministry said on its official website RFA reportedThe announcement came as China said on Monday that beginning January 8 it will put an end to a mandatory quarantine on arrival for overseas travelers that had been in place since March 2020Also read Explainer Advantages side effects heres all you need to know about Covid19 nasal vaccineIt also followed a leaked ministerial document dated December 20 which analysts said was likely the result of computer modeling in the absence of widespread testing said around 250 million people may now be affected with Covid19 following the lifting of control measures RFA reportedOfficials had already warned that the development of the current outbreak had become impossible to track in the absence of mass testingHighprofile progovernment commentator Hu Xijin the former editorinchief of the Global Times said the figures released in recent days had been seriously distorted and believed by no one RFA reportedThe announcement came amid anecdotal evidence of skyrocketing death rates and overwhelming pressure on hospitals A hospital in Taizhou city recently announced that it had passed two million emergency room visits in recent days while a video clip uploaded on social media by a Shanghai resident on Sunday showed hundreds of people lining up to get served at the citys Baoxing funeral parlor with the line stretching out of the gate and onto the streetAn official in Chinas political and legal committee system the ruling Chinese Communist Partys law enforcement hierarchy said the massive pressure on crematoriums in the city had prompted municipal civil affairs bureau officials to take control of the sector RFA reportedNobody is now allowed to transport the remains of their dead relatives to funeral homes but must wait for them to be picked up by funeral home staffThe official said the current wave of infections is driven by government pressure to reboot the economy after months of damage under Xi Jinpings zeroCovid policy and suggests the government is pursuing herd immunityThey are expressly telling people who have tested positive to go to work to spread the infection as fast as possible the official saidIts like this all over the country now he said RFA reportedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever