China Prepares for New Coronavirus Spread

China’s move last week to begin aligning with a world that has essentially opened up to live with the virus heeded historic protests versus President Xi Jinping’s signature ‘zero-coronavirus’ policies created to stamp out corona.

But the excitement that completed this dramatic U-turn has quickly given way to worries that China is not ready for the forthcoming wave of infections and the impact it could deliver to the world’s second-biggest economy.

China registered 2,157 new symptomatic coronavirus infections on Dec. 15 compared with 2,000 the prior day.

Nevertheless, the official figures only capture part of the picture. Testing dropped and is at odds with signs of wider spread in cities where long lines outside fever clinics and cleared pharmacy shelves have become common.

Holiday Travels Set a Risk

There is worry regarding China’s frontier in the run-up to the local Lunar New Year holidays beginning on Jan. 22.

Rural areas are full of travelers returning to their hometowns and villages, with a small exposure to the virus during the three years since the epidemic burst.

On Friday, China’s National Health Commission ramped up vaccinations and construction stocks of ventilators, essential drugs, and test kits in rural areas. It also advised travelers to loosen contact with elderly relatives.

A day after the White House expressed the United States was ready to assist if China requested it, a spokesperson for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade declared on Friday that Australia “stands ready” to restart coronavirus collaboration that has so far included the supply of medical equipment and collaborative research work.