TAICHUNG (Taiwan News) — The news coming out of China is utterly heartbreaking.
In what are allegedly the leaked minutes of the Dec. 21 meeting of China's National Health Commission (NHC), there were nearly 37 million COVID cases reported on Tuesday (Dec. 20), while the total number of infections from Dec. 1-20 was 248 million people, accounting for 17.56% of the total population.
Funeral homes and crematoriums are operating 24/7 and now have a backlog of five to seven days in Beijing, according to many media reports. There are stories of hospitals so far beyond capacity that they are unable to hold more bodies, suggesting that some people may have to transport their deceased loved ones to the crematorium themselves.
There are long lines of cars waiting outside of the crematoriums, and once there, there is no longer enough cold storage for all the bodies, and there are anecdotes of people seeing bodies piled up at both hospitals and at funeral homes. Medical personnel and the workers at the funeral homes and crematoriums are now themselves infected with COVID at high rates, but need to work punishing hours under extreme stress regardless. Spare a thought for those heroes.
Prices for even simple antipyretics to reduce fever have spiraled out of control, and accessing them can be a serious challenge. In a Storm Media article on Wednesday (Dec. 21), a National Taiwan University (NTU) doctor described what a friend in Shanghai had passed on about the price of a bottle of Panadol, which normally costs RMB15 (NT$66.14/US$2.15), which by Tuesday morning had reached RMB2800 (NT$12,346/US$401), and by the evening of the same day, had spiraled up to between RMB4000 to RMB4500 (NT$17,637/US$573 to NT$19,842/US$645).
This is only the beginning and the peak of cases is expected to be reached months from now, though estimated timelines vary. The Lunar New Year, when families gather, will not help the situation.
COVID deaths and regular patients
No one knows how many are dying from COVID, including Chinese authorities, as they have changed the definition of a "COVID death" to only cases who died from pneumonia or respiratory failure caused by the virus. That has the function of making the number of deaths look minuscule compared to reality.
China may well be the country worst positioned to weather the crisis. It is a poor country for the most part, without a well-developed health care system throughout much of the country, especially in rural areas.
Then there is the problem in China of who gets priority access to medical care: High-ranking CCP officials. Civilian needs come second in a totalitarian regime.
Chinese analyst Lei of Lei’s Real Talk estimated that in Beijing the number of high-ranking CCP officials in the top 1%, who are mostly elderly, that are likely to come down with a serious case of COVID will almost certainly outnumber the entire number of available ICU beds in the city.
Due to years of the staggeringly nearsighted One Child Policy, China also has a relatively aged population, on par with many developed countries. Much of the less developed world faired fairly well, relatively speaking, during the pandemic due to their young populations, in spite of fairly low vaccination rates.
Chinese vaccines and looming toll
China’s vaccines are not as effective as the more advanced mRNA vaccines produced in the West and the Chinese government has only just allowed the import of BioNTech-Pfizer COVID vaccine, but only for use by the German expatriate community, and perhaps later other members of the international community. They are not cleared for use by Chinese people.
Worse, the vaccination rate, especially among vulnerable elderly populations, is relatively low. This is very alarming, especially considering the lack of availability of the most basic medicines.
By the time the peak of the COVID wave passes, it is entirely possible that China will have suffered both the most deaths per capita as well as the most deaths of any country. However, we will never know for sure, as the official statistics will massively understate the death toll.
The human toll all of this is taking, and will continue to take, for months is staggering. Even people in normal jobs are being asked to work even if infected, and for those in high-stress positions, there have been stories of people dropping dead on the job.
It is likely that most families will experience tragic loss, especially of beloved parents and grandparents, but also sometimes of sons and daughters. Often, this will be while desperately hoping and waiting in vain for even the most basic of medical care and medicine that could possibly have saved them.
People around the world need to step up and help
Chinese around the world are clearing out the shelves of pharmacies in hopes of getting medicine for their friends and loved ones in time. Indeed, anyone with friends in China should rush to the post office with care packages of medicine that are desperately needed.
Some countries, including Taiwan, are considering enacting government restrictions on the purchase of medicine. This should only be limited to ensuring enough supply for local populations. Any excess should be allowed to be sent to China.
This is especially important because China is refusing international aid from foreign governments that have offered, including the United States. Like with enforcing the use of inferior, local vaccines, the CCP will not suffer the perceived indignity of losing face, regardless of the death toll.
That leaves it up to us. Taiwan’s campaign of “Taiwan can help” and sending critical supplies to other countries during the pandemic left a very positive impression around the world, and many were genuinely grateful for the support and aid from Taiwan when other countries would not or could not.
To those Chinese in dire need, care packages from abroad will be cherished and remembered. Their government tries to blame their troubles on foreigners when the reality is that some of us care more about the Chinese people than the CCP does.
In the next column, we will look at how the CCP created this crisis, the cynical reasons they did it, and the political calculations that caused the abrupt dropping of Dynamic Zero Covid. First, however, let us remember the people in China do not deserve the nightmare they are living through, and try to help.
