Shanghai, Europe Brief News – A Shanghai hospital told its staff to prepare for a “tragic battle” with COVID-19.
It is expected that half of the city’s 25 million people to get infected by the end of the year while the virus sweeps through China largely unchecked.
The Shanghai Deji Hospital estimated there were about 5.43 million positives in the city and that 12.5 million in China’s main commercial hub will get infected by the end of the year.
“This year’s Christmas Eve, New Year’s Day, and the Lunar New Year are unsafe,” the hospital said.
“In this tragic battle, the entire Greater Shanghai will fall, and we will infect all the staff of the hospital! We will infect the whole family! We have no choice, and we cannot escape.”
After widespread protests and a relentless rise in cases, China this month took an abrupt shift in policies and began dismantling its “zero-COVID” regime, which has taken a great financial and psychological toll on its 1.4 billion people.
Over the past few weeks, violent protests were reported in southern China’s industrial metropolis Guangzhou over the strict coronavirus curbs.
Dramatic footage shows some tearing down Covid control barriers.
It follows Guangzhou’s worst Covid outbreak since the pandemic began.
Amid bad economic figures, China’s zero Covid policy is under enormous strain.
In the north of the country, the coronavirus rumour mill is also building pressure.
