China marked the first day of “chun yun,” the 40-day period of Lunar New Year travel known pre-pandemic as the world’s largest annual migration of people, bracing for a huge increase in travelers and the spread of COVID-19 infections. | Reuters
But the abrupt changes have exposed many of China’s 1.4 billion population to the virus for the first time, triggering a wave of infections that is overwhelming some hospitals, emptying pharmacy shelves of medication and causing long lines to form at crematoriums.
Many others, however, said they would not travel this year, with worry of infecting elderly relatives a common theme. Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics, acknowledged that risk in a Friday note but went on to say that “in the large cities that make up much of China’s economy, it seems the worst has passed”.Ernan Cui, analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics in Beijing, cited several online surveys as indicating that the current wave of infections may have already peaked in most regions, noting there was “not much difference between urban and rural areas.
On Saturday in Hong Kong, people who had made appointments had to queue for about 90 minutes at a centre for PCR tests needed for travel to countries including mainland China.For much of the pandemic, China poured resources into a vast PCR testing program to track and trace COVID-19 cases, but the focus is now shifting to vaccines and treatment.
Meanwhile, sources told Reuters that China is in talks with Pfizer Inc to secure a licence that will allow domestic drugmakers to manufacture and distribute a generic version of the U.S. firm’s COVID-19 antiviral drug Paxlovid in China.On the vaccine front, China’s CanSino Biologics Inc announced it has begun trial production for its COVID-19 mRNA booster vaccine, known as CS-2034.
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