COVID situation in China worsens as citizens witness ICUs flooded with patients, long lines at crematoriums

China is experiencing a massive increase in cases and may face over a million Covid deaths next year, just days after repealing its zero Covid policy. The situation is grave because China’s Covid vaccines have not been updated to target the highly infectious Omicron variants that are fueling the case load in several countries, including Japan and Brazil.

China’s official Covid figures have become untrustworthy since the country ceased mass testing when it abandoned its zero Covid policy.

“In China, what’s been reported is relatively low numbers of cases in ICUs, but anecdotally ICUs are filling up,” WHO’s emergencies director Mike Ryan said.

“I wouldn’t like to say that China is actively not telling us what’s going on. I think they’re behind the curve,” he added.

Some Beijing residents have to wait days or pay exorbitant fees to cremate relatives, according to funeral home workers, indicating an increasing death toll, according to Reuters.