Local Infectious Disease Expert, "Thousands of Patients Being Treated at Each Large Hospital"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] Amid a sharp surge in COVID-19 cases in China following the declaration of the end of the 'Zero COVID' policy, an expert testified that the number of infected people in Shanghai, the economic capital, exceeds 10 million.
On the 31st, the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper People's Daily's social media account 'Dajiangdong (大江東)' released a video interview with Chief Zhang Wanhong of Huashan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University in Shanghai.
Chief Zhang, a renowned infectious disease expert, stated in the interview, "Shanghai reached the peak of COVID-19 infections on the 22nd, and the current number of infected people is estimated to be over 10 million." He added, "Assuming 0.5% of the 10 million infected require hospitalization, it means that 50,000 people have been admitted to hospitals in recent weeks," and "Each large hospital is treating thousands of COVID-19 patients."
As of 2020, Shanghai's population was approximately 24.87 million, so according to Chief Zhang, at least 40% of Shanghai residents have been infected with COVID-19. He said, "Although the proportion of severe cases among the infected is low, the absolute number of infections is very high, which is characteristic of Omicron infections," and "We are facing the severe challenges that every country experienced during the early stages of COVID-19 reopening."
In Shanghai, doctors and nurses from health centers to large hospitals have been deployed to treat COVID-19 patients, and efforts are ongoing to improve the medical system and the treatment system for severe cases.
Chief Zhang emphasized, "We need to improve treatment methods across society, including expanding treatment facilities and medical personnel, prescribing oxygen therapy and antiviral drugs, and providing standardized treatment notebooks, while ensuring treatment within 72 hours of symptom onset," and "We must increase the number of hospital beds and be able to treat emergency patients within 24 hours."
China, which had insisted on a strict Zero COVID policy for nearly three years since the outbreak, suddenly announced a relaxation of quarantine measures on the 7th. Since the Chinese government stopped releasing daily COVID-19 infection statistics, the exact number of infected people is unknown, but there are speculations that the infection rate in Beijing has exceeded 80%, and COVID-19 is spreading rapidly across China.
On the 26th (local time), the FinancialTimes(FT) reported that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in China from the 1st to the 20th of this month is estimated to reach 250 million.
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