China Reduces Reporting Numbers As Covid-19 Cases Surge In Country

China has reduced reporting the numbers of Covid-19 cases and will cease accounting for asymptomatic cases as well. While infections continue to surge in the country, the change was seen as a sudden and complete departure from the Chinese government’s “zero-Covid” program, one of the strictest antivirus policies in the world. A notice on the National Health Commission’s website on Wednesday said it will no longer be tracking and publishing daily figures of asymptomatic cases since it is impossible to accurately grasp the number of those infections as they have already been accounted for among positive Covid cases.

Associated Press reported that the change of practices in China came after its government announced a significant easing of antivirus measures despite a supposed rapid increase in infections. This sudden U-turn in its policy raised some suspicions that its health system may be overwhelmed like many countries during the initial outbreak of the virus.

Sources said many of the newly-infected people are staying home, and that there is little evidence of a surge in patient numbers. However, the new reporting rules in the country made it difficult to get a clear picture of the actual spread. Some hospitals are said to be struggling to remain staffed due to rising infections among employees. The only figures the commission is reporting are confirmed cases detected in public testing facilities where symptoms are displayed. Many families also use self-test kits at home, and any positive infections there, would go unreported.

China’s government-supplied figures have not been independently verified, which led many to question whether the ruling Communist Party is completely honest about the exact number of new cases and deaths.

Chen Xi, a Chinese professor specializing in health policy at Yale University approached the BBC and discussed the current situation hospitals are struggling with due to the rising infection among the staff. He claimed to have spoken with hospital directors and said that some hospitals require infected staff to come to work. Chen also mentioned that in the nation's capital of Beijing, restaurants were already given permission to reopen, however, customers are few and the streets remain relatively quiet. Companies have asked their employees to return to their offices, but many still refuse to go.