[The Epoch Times, December 11, 2022](Comprehensive report by Epoch Times reporter Xu Jian) Baoding City, Hebei Province, with a population of 9.2 million, suddenly attracted attention on Weibo recently, because the number of local infections surged, and positive patients kept posting , called attention to the shortage of medical supplies, and the local heating system experienced difficulties, making patients miserable.
“Baoding Epidemic” draws attention
As of December 11, the topic of “Baoding Epidemic” has been read 300 million times on Weibo, and netizens continue to post “Baoding has fallen seriously!”
Reuters reported that when Mr. Li in Baoding tested positive for the new crown (CCP virus) last Tuesday, he was mentally prepared to be quarantined for five days, but the sudden relaxation of restrictions across the country caught him off guard the next day.
Mr. Li was allowed to recuperate at home, but because the 180-degree turn of the policy was too sudden, he was unprepared—he was alone, and there was no fever-reducing medicine at home. “I couldn’t buy any medicine at that time, and there was a long queue outside the pharmacy.” Lee told Reuters.
According to an interview by the mainland media Beijing News, several Baoding residents said,“fever”It has indeed become the norm among relatives and friends, and some“going through”,some“got better”.The medical system is also“fever”shock。
In the common cognition of the interviewees, Baoding’s“fever”From11Started at the end of the month.
“The number of infections will definitely increase”
When Reuters visited Baoding city, it found that the stock of some medicines had been replenished, and people could buy ibuprofen and other cold medicines in many pharmacies. However, Lianhua Qingwen, a traditional Chinese medicine used to treat fever and cough, and antigen detection kits are still hard to find.
Not only in Baoding, online pharmacies across China have sold out of medicines and test kits, and hoarding of medicines has even occurred in various places.
Ben Cowling, an epidemiologist at the University of Hong Kong, said that regardless of the testing figures released by China, “the number of infections will definitely increase” in the coming weeks. He warned there would also be an increase in serious infections.
A Chinese health official recently said that China has 138,100 intensive care beds, which is very small for the country’s huge population.
Beijing’s new policy, released last Wednesday, was cheered by some but raised concerns among many, as the disease was portrayed as a scourge in official propaganda just days earlier.
Authorities have not forecast how many people may become seriously ill or die since restrictions were eased.
Baoding’s Heating Difficulty Worse
As more and more COVID-19 patients recover at home, Baoding has suffered from winter heating problems, making matters worse by increasing the risk of serious illness. According to Baoding Daily, coal supply is “unstable” and heating is insufficient due to the epidemic.
A 20-year-old Baoding resident surnamed Wang told Reuters that the temperature in her home was only 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit) while two of her family members were infected with the virus.
“We joked that Baoding residents don’t need heating because we can use our own body temperature to keep warm,” she said.
China has reported no deaths since easing restrictions on the outbreak, and has so far reported a total of 5,200. According to the data on the prevention and control of the new crown epidemic in Baoding, on December 9, there were no new local asymptomatic and confirmed cases in Baoding. From December to now, the daily increase in cases in Baoding City does not exceed 10 at most.
The CCP’s concealment of the epidemic is similar to the outbreak in Wuhan three years ago. Rodney Jones, head of the macroeconomic consulting group “Wigram Capital Advisors” (Wigram Capital Advisors) said: “(The CCP Right) the presentation of the number of cases is very similar to 2020.” Wigram provides epidemic models to governments during the epidemic.
Editor in charge: Gao Jing#