The wake of Hong Kong: how things changed overnight after the September 11, 2001, pandemic ended with a 10-point ban on quarantine and lockdowns
On Wednesday, China’s health authorities overhauled the zero-Covid policy with a 10-point national plan that kept some restrictions, but largely scrapped health code tracking for most public places, rolled back mass testing, allowed many positive cases to quarantine at home and imposed limits on lockdowns of areas deemed “high risk.”
While the changes were greeted with relief by many and sparked discussion online of freer travel within the country – and perhaps even international travel in the future – there was also a sense of uncertainty about what lay ahead.
“The world changed overnight, and that’s really amazing,” said Echo Ding, 30, a manager at a tech company in Beijing. “I feel like we are getting back to normal life. It is important to me that I get back to a normal life, otherwise I will lose my mind.
For much of the pandemic, Hong Kong held the unenviable title of having some of the world’s most stringent pandemic policies – such as the strict quarantine, which at one point required up to 21 days of isolation in a hotel room, with no visitors allowed and the windows locked shut.
What can the onset of Omicron do now? The frustration in Shanghai after the citywide lockdown and the media coverage of the protests
“How can it change so fast?” Ding asked. It makes me feel like we’re fools. It is up to them. That is what I feel right now after they said it was good. It is so unbelievable, I have no choice. All that I can do is follow the arrangement.
David Wang, 33, a freelancer in Shanghai, said although the changes were welcome, they had also sparked a feeling of disbelief in the city, which underwent a chaotic, more than two-month-long, citywide lockdown earlier this year.
“Of course I was very happy about these new changes – (but) most of my friends are showing typical signs of PTSD, they just can’t believe it’s happening,” he said.
The top health officials in Beijing said on Wednesday that the changes to the rules were due to evidence, including the spread of the milder Omicron variant and China’s experience in response to the virus.
But the changes, which come on the heels of a wave of unprecendented protests across the country against harsh Covid restrictions, are a swift about-face for a government long bent on stamping out all infections. While health authorities made slight policy revisions last month, the central government didn’t seem to be preparing for an imminent shift in strategy until last week.
The government and state media have used the virus as a reason to maintain restrictive policies.
A lot of articles about Omicron are more mild than some other countries, and that has made some feel as though they’ve been whiplashed by a public messaging campaign like the one other countries have done before their own policy changes.
Experts say a surge in cases could be on the way because the majority of people haven’t been exposed to the virus.
There were many reports of panic buying offever medications on Thursday morning after topics about what to do in case of Omicron started to trend high on China’s heavily moderated social media platform Weibo.
“People were not told what kind of medicine they should have and what they should do if infected until there was widespread infection. In fact, we should have started doing this a long, long time ago,” said Sam Wang, 26, a lawyer in Beijing, who added that the policy release felt “sudden and arbitrary.”
Some worried about living with the virus. Aurora wants to keep herself safe because she doesn’t know what will happen if she’s re-instated for a second or third time.
Wang said his mother was buying high-grade N95 masks and preparing for a possible nuclear winter until there was a wave of cases.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/08/china/china-zero-covid-relaxation-reaction-intl-hnk/index.html
The Covid-19 Warnings: Why Do You Need to Wear a Mask? How Do State and Local Laws Can Help in Endangered Diseases?
As local authorities adjust to the guidelines, some are watching to see how they are implemented in their cities.
In Beijing, a health code showing a negative Covid-19 test would still be required for dining in at restaurants or entering some entertainment venues, despite the national guidelines.
When her health code turned yellow on wednesday evening, it meant that she could only enter most public places until she got another test that would show a negative result. Now, with the new rules she knew she could largely go out freely, but instead she stayed at home to “wait and see.”
Schaffner said that at this stage of the Covid-19 influenza season, public health conversations have been centered on individual risk rather than the need for everyone to wear masks.
During this surge of this tridemic, a lot of attention has been given to patients who are at higher risk of diseases such as older persons, people who have an underlying illness, and anyone who has immune compromise. Put your mask back on,’ ” said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.
Those warnings come just as the federal government moves in the opposite direction with vaccines. The defense bill that passed the House eliminates Covid vaccine requirements for members of the military.
In Los Angeles, where there is moderate but increasing Covid-19 spread, county public health director Barbara Ferrer said on December 1 that if case levels and strain on hospitals continue to rise, “then we would go ahead and follow the CDC guidance, which includes universal indoor masking.”
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told reporters Monday that about 5% of the population currently lives in a county with high spread. CDC’s county-level data suggests more than two-thirds of Americans live in an area with low transmission, but that cases are rising.
A Recommendation for Masking in the Presence of Covid-19, Flu, and RSV, as Revisited by Dr. Anthony Fauci
Walensky said the most important protection for people against the triple threat is to stay up to date on Covid-19 vaccines and boosters and to get an annual flu shot. Please, stay home when you are sick.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is stepping down this month as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he is not afraid to recommend a return to masking in some circumstances as the nation faces a triple threat of Covid-19, flu and RSV.
He reiterated that sentiment in an exit interview with NBC News, where he suggested that people should mask where appropriate, but was careful to say it’s only a recommendation.
“I am not talking about mandating anything,” Fauci said. “I just think it’s important to say no to the risk of getting it and spreading it to a vulnerable member of my family.”
Fauci said it shouldn’t be. “I know sometimes when you walk in and you have a mask and nobody has a mask, you kind of feel guilty. You shouldn’t feel guilty.”
A majority of Americans said they wore a mask rarely or never outside the home. Just 14% said their employer required mask wearing.
We should be supporting people who wear masks and be more cautious, because we have to, because they are at risk in the event of a viral surge.
45% of people responded that they support local government requirements, down from more than two-thirds in January.
When a county has a high amount of Covid-19 in the community, a high-quality mask or respirator is recommended for everyone.
“I don’t want to go to mandates because I think over much of the United States, you will get a lot of pushback, and people will ignore it. Public health recommendations have to be acceptable,” he added.
New Covid-19 Hospitalizations Are Ticking Up: State of the Art and Prospects for a Community-Wide Approach, Commissioners
The county has 258 new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people and 14.8 hospitalizations per 100,000 people but continues to stay below the “high” level of staffed Covid patient beds, at 6.9%, she said.
We haven’t reached that dangerous threshold where CDC has said, ‘You really need to start worrying about your hospital system’, but we have reached a threshold where there is too much transmission and it’s creating a lot of risk. And the time to mitigate the risk is actually now,” Ferrer said.
Every community has been looking at the same guidance, considering whether they are approaching high levels and might have to consider universal masking again, Freeman said.
“Now, I say all that based on the pure facts of the guidance, but I do think that has the possibility again of turning into a political divide in community by community where elected officials and others may or may not wish to see universal masking reimplemented. But we will have to see if that legal divide enters the picture again,” she said. “There’s not a lot of appetite for some of these original mitigation efforts to be reimplemented.”
Over the past three weeks, New York’s flu hospitalizations have more than doubled, and lab-confirmed flu cases have nearly tripled, according to the letter.
The Commissioners urged a community wide approach, including schools, that can prevent the spread of respiratory viruses and protect young children, older individuals and people with underlying health conditions.
The CDC’s metrics for US counties are based on new Covid-19 hospitalizations and the capacity of the hospital. But the agency is looking into revisiting these community levels, possibly to include data on other respiratory viruses such as flu and RSV, Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Monday.
It is something we are looking into. She said that one should not wait for the CDC to take action in order to put on a mask.
Covid-19 hospitalizations are starting to tick up after Thanksgiving: More than 34,000 people were admitted to the hospital with Covid-19 in the past week, up 20% from the week prior, according to the CDC. Ensemble forecasts from the CDC predict continued increase over the next month or so.
The number of Covid deaths reporting to the CDC in the last week of November was about 1800, but the forecasts predict that deaths will not change over the next month or so.
One of the last major international cities requiring face coverings on Tuesday announced it will end its controversial Covid mask mandate nearly three years after it was enacted to prevent the spread of the virus.
The rule that banned smoking on public transportation came into effect on July 15, 2020 and was expanded two weeks later to cover indoor and outdoor areas after reports of coronaviruses spread, causing panic buying and shortages in the city.
The mandate is set to be fully lifted on Wednesday, as per the leader John Lee who gave a news briefing Tuesday.
Hong Kong has rolled back several other major controls in recent months, most notably mandatory quarantine for all international arrivals, a move celebrated by travel-starved residents, overseas family members and struggling local businesses.
The Health Secretary said that with the lifting of the mask mandate they have removed all epidemic restrictions.
He said that he was looking forward to seeing a smile on everyone’s face. The government still encourages the wearing of masks when in high risk settings such as elderly care homes and hospitals.