China reeling under massive Covid wave

Beijing, December 15

Nearly a fortnight after China lifted the much-despised “zero-Covid” restrictions following a spate of protests, the country is reeling under a massive Covid wave, with a Chinese diplomat blaming “foreign forces” for the anti-government demonstrations.

Videos circulating on China’s social media showed clinics in Beijing and some other cities flooded with patients with queues extending onto footpaths with people patiently waiting for their turn in the cold winter.

While many with heavy fever waited outside the clinics, the Omicron virus is having a field day with most of the apartment blocks, which were earlier under the cover of zero-Covid reported fast-increasing cases.

Meanwhile, a senior Chinese diplomat has alleged that last month’s anti-zero Covid protests, which included slogans against President Xi Jinping and the ruling Communist Party, were caused by the local government’s failure to manage the epidemic but were soon “taken advantage of” by “foreign forces”.

The remarks by Lu Shaye, China’s Ambassador to France, were the first by a Chinese official after rare protests erupted in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, and other cities, South China Morning Post reported.