Xi Jinping: China is facing 'new situation' amid COVID surge

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged a "patriotic health campaign" in his first public remarks on the pandemic since the end of Beijing's zero-COVID policy and the subsequent   surge in coronavirus casesearlier this month.

"At present, COVID-19 prevention and control in China are facing a new situation and new tasks," Xi said in a directive as reported by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

"We should launch the patriotic health campaign in a more targeted way… fortify a community line of defense for epidemic prevention and control, and effectively protect people's lives, safety and health," Xi said.

China to scrap quarantine requirement for foreigners

In further developments Monday, the country's National Health Commission announced it would drop a COVID-19 quarantine requirement for passengers arriving from abroad beginning January 8.

Currently, arriving passengers have to quarantine for five days at a hotel, followed by three days at home.

China's top health authority said some foreigners would be able to enter the country, without giving details. 

It also said Chinese citizens would be able to travel abroad for tourism once again too, without specifying a timeline.

China pressured to provide COVID data

China's National Health Commission on Sunday said it would stop publishing daily COVID-19 numbers, saying the task would be delegated to another department under it.

The health commission has recorded only six COVID-19 fatalities this month, bringing the country's official toll to 5,241. 

The figures have been largely disputed since there are multiple reports by families of relatives dying in the country of over 1.4 billion people.

Beijing also only counts deaths from pneumonia or respiratory failure in its official COVID-19 toll. This selection of data excludes many deaths other countries would attribute to the contagious viral disease.

Experts at the World Health Organization this month called on China to release reliable figures beyond the limited data available to the world so far.

What's causing the sudden rise in cases?

China kept infection numbers low for the last two years with its strict "zero-COVID" strategy.

The strategy isolated cities and confined millions to their homes through the years. But citizens in many places grew resentful over prolonged restrictions, eventually launching street protests last month.

China then unexpectedly announced it was scrapping the strategy. 

The nation is now facing the widespread outbreak that other countries have already gone through, with British health firm Airfinity estimating that China is seeing more than a million infections and nearly 5,000 deaths a day.

Researchers at a health institute at the University of Washington in Seattle forecast 1 million deaths in China through the end of 2023.

China races to vaccinate the elderly

China's National Health Commission on December 23 said the number of people being vaccinated daily had more than doubled to 3.5 million nationwide.

But that number is a small fraction of the tens of millions of shots that were being administered every day in early 2021.

China is also racing to vaccinate the elderly since millions of people didn't take their first shot because they faced little risk of infection before the latest surge in cases.

The elderly have also remained reluctant given potential side effects of Chinese-made coronavirus vaccines.

rm/dj (AFP, AP)