The numbers are quite staggering.
Since the lifting of restrictions related to the zero Covid policy on December 7, China has been facing a very large epidemic outbreak.
In some Chinese provinces, almost the entire population would have been infected with the virus.
Similarly, some personalities died suddenly, without the reasons being detailed.
In particular, a population very little or not vaccinated and which has hardly been in contact with the virus for three years.
Consequences, according to many testimonies, hospitals and crematoriums are overwhelmed.
Some models estimate that more than a million people could lose their lives.
For its part, Beijing claims that only 30 people have died of Covid-19 since the lifting of restrictions on December 7.
Read alsoThierry Wolton: “The real reasons for the abandonment of the “zero Covid” policy in China”
Back in pictures on this powerful wave that affects China and especially Shanghai.
Patients lie on beds in the emergency department of a hospital in Shanghai on January 4, 2023. STAFF / REUTERS
When the zero Covid policy was lifted, the Chinese population, especially the elderly, was poorly vaccinated.
According to WHO data reported Tuesday, January 3 by the
Financial Times
, only 40% of people over 80 have received a booster dose in China.
The Chinese vaccines Sinovac and Sinopharm are only really effective against the Omicron variant once this booster dose has been given.
Patients lie on beds in the emergency department of a hospital in Shanghai, January 5, 2023. STAFF / REUTERS
In Shanghai, 18 million people are said to have been infected in one month, or nearly 70% of the population.
Patients lie on beds and stretchers in a corridor of the emergency department of a hospital in Shanghai on January 4, 2023. STAFF / REUTERS
According to the British medical analysis company Airfinity, there could currently be 11,000 deaths per day due to Covid-19 in China.
Patients lie on beds next to closed counters in the emergency department of Zhongshan Hospital in Shanghai, January 3, 2023. JADE GAO / AFP
For its part, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday January 4 "
to think that the current figures published by China under-represent the real impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions, admissions to intensive care and especially in terms of death".
Read alsoIn China, everything depends on the release of the Covid
A woman gives a drink to an elderly person lying on a stretcher as she waits in the emergency department of a hospital in Shanghai on January 5, 2023. STAFF / REUTERS
According to some experts, “
the Chinese hospital system is not as good as the one we have in France
”
.
A French system which had had the greatest difficulty in resisting certain epidemic waves.
This photo shows a dead man on a stretcher at First Center Hospital in Tianjin, December 28, 2022. NOEL CELIS / AFP
In the crematoriums, the employees announce that they are overwhelmed.
“
We are all very busy, there is no more room for the bodies in the cold rooms
,” one of them told AFP on December 20.
A man carries an urn containing the ashes of a loved one to a crematorium in Beijing, December 20, 2022. NOEL CELIS / AFP
Many people therefore flock to the crematoriums.
People wait outside a funeral home in Shanghai on January 5, 2023. STAFF / REUTERS
In some places, funeral ceremonies follow one another.
Relatives and neighbors attend the funeral of a woman named Liu, who died of Covid-19, in a village in Tonglu county, Zhejiang province, January 9, 2023. ALY SONG / REUTERS
Some more positive images.
On January 8, China lifted the mandatory quarantine for international travelers.
Giving rise to some scenes of joy in the airports.
People hug each other, January 8, 2023, at the international arrivals gate of Beijing International Airport after China lifted the quarantine requirement for incoming travelers to Beijing.
THOMAS PETER / REUTERS
Putting an end to an isolation from the world that had lasted for three years.
People hug each other, January 8, 2023, at the international arrivals gate of Beijing International Airport after China lifted the quarantine requirement for incoming travelers to Beijing.
THOMAS PETER / REUTERS
Initially three weeks, the duration of this quarantine was reduced to one week last summer, then to five days in November.
A man holds flowers while waiting for someone at the international arrivals gate of Beijing International Airport on January 8, 2023. THOMAS PETER / REUTERS
Some countries, including France, have nevertheless imposed restrictive measures against travelers from China.
