China’s ongoing battle with the COVID surge has completely decimated the country’s medical infrastructure, especially in Hebei province.
Hospitals in Baoding and Langfang have been forced to refuse ambulances and sick patients seeking treatment, while health administrators have sought to treat patients in intensive care units that exceed the capacity of benches or floors. officials said.
“I don’t have much hope,” said Yao Luyang, who is in urgent need of medical care after her elderly mother-in-law contracted the coronavirus. However, Yao was unable to find a hospital with room to treat her, the Associated Press reported.
“They say there are no beds here,” she told AP reporters outside a fever clinic in China’s Hebei province.
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Yao and her husband said they encountered the same reaction at every hospital: no room for another patient. After the family drove to Zhuozhou Hospital, an hour’s drive from Yao’s hometown. had the same reaction.
“I’m furious,” Yao added tearfully.
And the problem isn’t limited to Yao.
The ICU at Baoding No. 2 Hospital in Zhuozhou was so overcrowded that medical workers directed people carrying patients from arriving ambulances to seek treatment elsewhere.
“There is no oxygen or electricity in this hallway!” workers shouted, as reported by the Associated Press. “How can you save him if you can’t even give him oxygen?”
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“If you don’t want to be late, turn around and leave now!” the worker added.
Crematoria in the area have received similar complaints.
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At the Zhuozhou Crematorium, furnaces are burning around the clock as workers struggle to keep up with the surge in deaths, workers told The Associated Press.
Before the Chinese government dramatically eased COVID-related restrictions on Dec. 7, there were only 3-4 bodies, but funeral home workers are estimated to be cremating 20-30 bodies a day. doing.
“So many people have died,” said funeral director Zhao Yongsheng. “They work day and night, but they can’t burn everything.”
Funeral halls in the Chinese capital were also packed, and some had to travel hours to find someone who could cremate their deceased.
“I was told I would have to wait 10 days,” said a resident identified only by her last name, Liang.
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The Chinese government has reported only seven deaths from COVID-19 since it eased restrictions on December 7, but the lack of solutions to provide prompt and adequate care has left COVID and China’s predictions for the war in the US look grim.
Since the global pandemic began in the last months of 2019, China has officially reported just 5,241 COVID deaths. For context, the official death toll in the United States exceeds her 1.1 million.
Modeling suggests that large numbers of people will continue to be infected and die across Beijing and other parts of China.
Experts predict that between 1 and 2 million people will eventually die in China next year, and the World Health Organization says that the Chinese government’s COVID We’re underestimating the numbers,” he said.
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Chinese health officials said on Tuesday that China only counts deaths from pneumonia or respiratory failure in its official COVID death toll, ignoring deaths attributed to COVID BS counted by countries using a broader definition. He said that
The Associated Press contributed to this report.