Reuters (December 22)
Despite official government figures citing just 1,800 Covid cases and only seven resulting deaths last week, more realistic estimates place the true figures at over one million daily infections, with “more than 5,000 people … dying each day from COVID-19 in China.”
Tags: Cases, China, COVID-19, Deaths, Estimates, Figures, Government, Infections, Official, One million, Realistic
Bloomberg (December 13)
“A sharp increase in China’s Covid infections following an abrupt end to strict pandemic control measures suggests investors may need to pare back on reopening trades, according to Morgan Stanley.”
Tags: Abrupt, China, Covid, End, Infections, Investors, Morgan Stanley, Pandemic control, Pare, Reopening trades, Sharp increase, Strict
Wall Street Journal (November 25)
“China’s zero-Covid reckoning” is approaching as “record infections and new lockdowns lead to rising public frustration and slower economic growth.” China’s economy is expected to slow further, “with growth estimates falling for the fourth quarter and the year below 3%. That’s assuming Chinese officials aren’t gilding the books. China’s official GDP target for this year had been 5.5%.”
Tags: China, Economy, GDP, Infections, Lockdowns, Public frustration, Q4, Reckoning, Record, Slower economic growth, Zero COVID
The Guardian (May 10)
“Tensions between Shanghai residents and China’s Covid enforcers are on the rise again, amid a new push to end infections outside quarantine zones to meet President Xi Jinping’s demand for achieving “dynamic zero-Covid.” To express their displeasure with what are increasingly being viewed as violations of human rights and the rule of law, residents are sharing incriminating videos on social media. “Censors have been taking down many of these videos, but determined residents have continued to post them.”
Tags: China, Covid, Displeasure, Enforcers, Human rights, Infections, Quarantine, Residents, Rule of law, Shanghai, Social media, Tensions, Videos, Violations, Xi
Reuters (May 6)
As criticism mounts, both domestically and overseas, the Chinese Communist Party has come out forcefully to “fight any comment or action that distorted, doubted or repudiated its COVID policy.” It stresses that “relaxing COVID controls… would lead to large-scale infections.” The People’s Daily newspaper even used an editorial to dispute “accusations China’s COVID policy was disrupting global economy and trade.”
Tags: Accusations, CCP, Controls, COVID policy, Criticism, Disrupting, Distorted, Economy, Fight, Global, Infections, People's Daily, Repudiated, Trade
Washington Post (April 5)
“Two years ago, China was being lauded by the World Health Organization for its success in beating the coronavirus.” Today, clinging to a “Covid Zero” policy leaves the nation “increasingly isolated as other countries … wean themselves off harsh countermeasures and return to a semblance of pre-pandemic life.” China may have little choice. Relaxing the policy would likely result in at least “630,000 infections a day,” a figure which could rapidly overwhelm “China’s patchy hospital network.”
Tags: China, Coronavirus, Covid Zero, Hospital network, Infections, Isolated, Lauded, Overwhelm, Patchy, Pre-pandemic, Success, WHO
Reuters (March 15)
“China posted a steep jump in daily COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, with new cases more than doubling from a day earlier to hit a two-year high, raising concerns about the rising economic costs of the country’s tough containment measures.” The nation’s “zero tolerance approach is not only becoming more costly, but also suffering diminishing returns against the highly infectious Omicron.”
Tags: China, Containment, COVID-19, Diminishing returns, Doubling, Economic costs, High, Infections, New cases, Omicron, Zero tolerance
San Francisco Chronicle (January 25)
“The start of the new year brought a familiar wave of distress for many Bay Area parents: Omicron infections were accelerating; preschools and child care centers were shutting their doors; adults saw their work regimens upended, their children cloistered and irritable.” But there is now a new worry. It’s hitting children harder. “The pervasive threat of omicron to children too young to be vaccinated has added a layer of anguish.”
Tags: Accelerating, Adults, Anguish, Children, Distress, Familiar, Infections, Omicron, Parents, Preschools, Threat, Upended, Vaccinated, Wave, Work
Denver Post (August 5)
“The known total of global coronavirus infections surpassed 200 million Wednesday, a daunting figure that also fails to capture how far the virus has embedded itself within humanity.” Official death figures are also imperfect but useful markers and now stand at over 614,000 deaths in the U.S., 550,000 in Brazil, 425,000 in India, and 4.2 million worldwide.
Tags: Brazil, Coronavirus, Daunting, Death, Embedded, Humanity, India, Infections, Official, Surpassed, U.S., Virus
Financial Times (April 19)
“India’s currency has swung from emerging market leader to laggard as the country battles a ferocious wave of coronavirus infections, prompting concerns among global investors that a nascent economic recovery will crumble.” During Q1, the rupee was “the only emerging market currency to gain ground on the dollar.” Since April, it has plummeted 3%, “the worst performance” of its peers.
Tags: Coronavirus, Currency, Dollar, Economic recovery, Emerging market, Ferocious, India, Infections, Investors, Laggard, Leader, Nascent, Rupee, Worst