In his end-of-year speech, Chinese President Xi Jinping said he saw “a ray of hope in the fight against Covid-19”. Xi stressed that China has now entered “a new phase”. “We have adapted the response to Covid-19 according to the circumstances and with extraordinary efforts we have overcome unprecedented risks and challenges” Xi continued, asking his fellow citizens for “perseverance and solidarity” to achieve victory. In recent weeks, the spread of Covid-19 has put pressure on China’s healthcare system, overloaded morgues and crematoriums and sent medicine supplies into a tailspin, with pharmacies running out of stock across much of the country.
The words of the Chinese president come a few hours after the meeting between officials of the World Health Organization and Chinese officials. Yesterday the WHO once again called on Beijing to be transparent in the dissemination of contagion data, according to what was declared by the director general of the UN agency, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, especially in view of the reopening of the country, starting from 8 January next. In particular, the WHO has asked for more data on the genetic sequencing of the virus, hospitalizations, intensive care, deaths and the vaccination rate, with particular regard to the over-60s and the most fragile sections of the population.
Estimates of the spread of the pandemic in China
Pending certain data, the scenario outlined by the projections of the British institute Airfinity are very gloomy: nine thousand deaths a day are estimated, a first peak of infections on January 13 (with 3.7 million cases) and another peak in early March (4.2 million). At the end of April, the number of deaths could reach 1.7 million, after two other waves of infections, in addition to the current one, straddling the expected movements of hundreds of millions of domestic tourists on the national territory for the holidays linked to the lunar new year. The United States, Italy, Spain, France, South Korea, India, Japan, Taiwan, and from today also Great Britain, have imposed the obligation of the swab for those arriving from China, with a move that Beijing did not like.
The controversy against the Western media
Formally, the Chinese Foreign Ministry defines the situation as “predictable and under control” and calls for “scientific and appropriate measures”. But the controversy over the precautions taken, especially by Western countries, is raging in the state media. For the experts quoted by the Global Times, the measures are “discriminatory and unfounded” and signal the intention to “boycott China”. Even more explicit is an editorial where the ultra-nationalist tabloid accuses the West and the Western media of «accusing China to feel better».