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The true scale of Covid-19 infections in China is now “impossible” to track, according to the country’s top health body, as officials warned of a rapid spread in Beijing following the abrupt abandonment of the country’s zero-tolerance policy.
After nearly three years of attempting to eradicate the virus, China relaxed restrictions on mass testing and quarantine last week, prompting officially reported infections to fall rapidly from all-time highs recorded last month.
And, with much of the country no longer requiring testing, China’s National Health Commission admitted on Wednesday that its figures no longer reflected reality.
“Because many asymptomatic people are no longer participating in nucleic acid testing, it is impossible to accurately estimate the number of asymptomatic infected people,” the NHC said in a statement.
According to a state media report, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said the capital’s new infections were “rapidly growing.”
Chinese leaders are determined to continue opening up, with Beijing’s tourism authorities announcing on Tuesday that it would resume tour groups in and out of the capital.
However, the country is facing a surge in cases that it is ill-equipped to handle, with millions of vulnerable elderly still not fully vaccinated and underfunded hospitals lacking the resources to deal with an expected influx of infected patients.
And, as the country moves away from its zero-Covid policy and toward living with the virus, many people with symptoms have chosen to self-medicate at home.
Residents of Beijing have complained about sold-out cold medicines and long lines at pharmacies, while Chinese search giant Baidu reported that searches for fever-reducing Ibuprofen had increased 430 percent in the previous week.
Soaring demand for rapid antigen tests and medications has created a black market with exorbitant prices, with buyers forced to source the goods from “dealers” whose contact information is passed around WeChat groups.
Authorities are cracking down, with market regulators fining one Beijing business 300,000 yuan ($43,000) for selling overpriced test kits, according to the local Beijing News on Tuesday.
In a country where infection with the virus was once considered taboo and recovered patients faced discrimination, people are now taking to social media to show off their test results and give detailed descriptions of their illnesses.
“When my body temperature rose above 37.2 degrees, I started adding sugar and salt to my lemon water,” Beijing-based Xiaohongshu social site user “Nina” wrote in one account intended as advice for those who had not yet been infected.
“I’ve been resurrected!!” wrote another account owner in the caption of a photo of a row of five positive antigen tests and one negative.
