Following the nationwide protests in November, the Chinese government effectively suspended the “Zero Covid” strategy, which had been in place since the beginning of 2020. In addition to hospitals and pharmacies, the Chinese people were caught off guard by the drastic action. Due to an increase in cases, China’s health system is facing its most difficult days since the outbreak began. Doctors were asked to return to work despite being infected and feverish in some cities, while retired personnel were called back to duty in others.

Dongguan, a city in Guangdong province in the south of China, announced that the daily number of cases is between 250 and 300 thousand, according to computer models and expert evaluations. The health authorities of Zhejiang province, where approximately 57 million people live, also made a statement last Sunday, announcing that the number of daily cases in the province is over 1 million.