Anger over China’s midnight raids in locked down Xi’an
China has continued its strategy of Covid Zero by raiding homes in locked down Xi’an and taking residents to “basic” quarantine camps. See the video.
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China has continued its harsh control of Covid-19 by raiding homes of residents in the city of Xi’an and taking them to quarantine camps.
The midnight raids have sparked horror on social media, after video of the raids was posted and residents complained over the new crackdown.
Xi’an is at the epicentre of China’s latest Covid outbreak and all 13 million residents are confined to their homes and cannot leave — even to buy food or supplies.
Authorities are hoping to eliminate the outbreak before Lunar New Year and the Winter Olympics in Beijing next month.
Residents in the Mingde 8 Yingli housing compound in the south of Xi’an were reportedly told just after midnight on New Year’s Day they had to leave their homes and go to quarantine facilities.
Reports suggest up to 1000 people were moved, transported to the camps by buses. many people said they were forced to wait on the buses for several hours.
Those in the quarantine camps say they are basic, cold and there isn’t enough food.
“There is nothing here, just basic necessities... Nobody has come to check up on us, what kind of quarantine is this? They did a big transfer of us, more than a thousand people, in the night and many of us are elderly people and children. They didn’t make any proper arrangements and so they just carelessly placed us (here),” one commenter posted online.
Beijing has pursued a “zero Covid” approach with tight border restrictions and targeted lockdowns since the virus first emerged, but its Xi’an strategy has come under pressure with recent local outbreaks.
The northern city of Xi’an, home to the world-famous Terracotta Warriors, has become the latest epicentre with authorities ordering all 13 million residents to stay home and several rounds of mass testing in recent weeks.
Xi’an reported 90 new virus cases on Monday, down from 122 a day before. Since December 9, there have been more than 1,600 infections reported in the city.
“We have entered a general state of attack,” said provincial official Liu Guozhong, according to an official notice.
On Sunday, Xi’an announced that two senior Communist Party officials from the Yanta district had been removed from their posts, according to local media, in a bid to “strengthen the work of epidemic prevention and control”.
Last month, China’s disciplinary body announced that dozens of officials were punished for “insufficient rigour in preventing and controlling the outbreak”.
Local residents told media in recent days that they were struggling to find enough food, despite Chinese authorities earlier insisting there were adequate supplies.
On Monday, Xi’an officials told reporters that resources had been urgently transported from neighbouring areas.
“Yanta district is an area with a large population, and there remains a gap between our work and the needs of the people,” said local official Lu Dongguo.
Although China’s reported coronavirus cases are low compared with elsewhere, new infections in recent days have reached a high not seen in the country since March 2020.
The spike comes as Beijing prepares to host the Winter Olympics next month.
Elsewhere in Asia, coronavirus cases are surging with a cluster of Omicron infections growing in Hong Kong triggering an expansion of the territory’s vaccine mandate.
Meanwhile, the Philippines is now at “high risk” for Covid-19 outbreaks, according to the Department of Health as metro Manila mayors have agreed to restrict mobility among the unvaccinated due to the rising number of virus cases.
ISRAEL BEGINS FOURTH COVID JAB
Israel began Monday administering fourth Covid vaccine shots to people over 60 and health workers amid a surge driven by the Omicron variant.
Health workers at Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv lined up for the shot and over-60s received it at the nearby branch of Clalit, Israel’s largest health fund.
The shot was given to those who received their third inoculation at least four months ago.
The health ministry on Sunday approved the fourth shot for the over-60s and medical staff, two days after those with weakened immunity started to take the shot, making Israel one of the first countries to do so.
The health ministry on Monday reported 6,562 new Covid infections over the previous day, nearly double the daily average of last week.
In an address late Sunday, local time, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned that cases could soon surge to about “50,000 cases per day”.
More than four million people out of Israel’s population of 9.2 million have received three shots of coronavirus vaccine.
A total of almost 1.4 million cases of Covid infection, including 8,244 deaths, have been officially recorded in Israel.
US CHIEF TESTS POSITIVE, FDA CLEARS PFIZER BOOSTERS
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Sunday he has tested positive for Covid-19 and was experiencing mild symptoms while quarantining at home.
In a statement Sunday night, Austin said he plans to attend key meetings and discussions virtually in the coming week “to the degree possible.”
He said Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks would represent him in appropriate matters.
Austin said he last met with US President Joe Biden on December 21, more than a week before he began to experience symptoms, and had tested negative the morning of that day.
“I have informed my leadership team of my positive test result, as well as the President,” Austin said. “My staff has begun contact tracing and testing of all those with whom I have come into contact over the last week.”
Austin, 68, said he was fully vaccinated and received a booster in October.
He said he requested a test Sunday morning after experiencing symptoms while at home on leave and, given the result, planned to remain in quarantine for five days, per guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It comes as the US Food and Drug Administration has cleared booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds.
The CDC is expected to sign off on the decision before the shots are administered.
CASES EXPLODE IN THIS US STATE BY NEARLY 1000 PER CENT
Meanwhile, Covid-19 case numbers are exploding in some US states due to the highly contagious Omicron variant.
In Florida, cases have risen 948 per cent over the past 14 days.
Omicron has been a drag for New Yorkers, but not for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Post reported on Monday.
The far-left politician (Democrat, New York) was spotted maskless in Florida, this time at a packed drag bar in Miami during brunch.
EXPOSED: AOC is STILL lounging it up in Florida, in large crowds and maskless. This time at a Drag Queen bar in Miami.
— Brendon Leslie (@BrendonLeslie) January 2, 2022
Rules for thee but not for me. pic.twitter.com/8l30GFA0GT
In video posted by a reporter for the Sunshine State’s Conservative Voice on Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez is seen waving to the large crowd of mostly unmasked bar-goers.
“AOC is STILL lounging it up in Florida, in large crowds and maskless,” tweeted Brendon Leslie, the reporter who initially posted the video to social media. “This time at a Drag Queen bar in Miami. Rules for thee but not for me.”
“For those of you with zero sense of humour: the whole point of this post is to expose hypocrisy,” Leslie said in another tweet.
“We don’t actually care she’s maskless. We care she fear mongers about Florida but then has the audacity to vacation here,” he added.
The US is also facing a Covid-19 test shortage.
The Biden administration promised to send out 500 million free tests to American households, but it’s unclear when those tests would arrive.
EU HITS 100 MILLION Covid CASES, FRANCE EASES RULES
France announced an easing of Covid restrictions from Monday and Britain’s health minister said curbs were an “absolute last resort”, as governments face tough choices between controlling the virus and keeping economies open.
Coronavirus cases have surged globally in recent weeks, fuelled by the emergence of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, and the pandemic dampened New Year’s celebrations yet again.
Europe crossed 100 million known cases on Saturday, and governments there are keen to prevent healthcare systems from becoming overwhelmed by Covid-19 while also avoiding punishing restrictions.
Fully vaccinated people in France who test positive will only have to isolate for seven days, and can leave quarantine after five days if they show a negative test.
The change in rules should allow a “benefit-risk balance aimed at ensuring the virus is controlled while maintaining socio-economic life”, the French health ministry said.
According to an AFP tally of official figures, 17 out of 52 countries or territories in Europe beat their previous record of most cases in a single week.
The countries with the highest ratio of infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the world were all in Europe too, with Denmark showing the worst figure of 2,045.
However, some studies have sparked hope that Omicron does not cause Covid as severe as the Delta variant, with some governments factoring that into their decisions to ease curbs.
But the World Health Organisation has warned of trying times ahead, saying Omicron could lead to “a tsunami of cases” because of its high transmissibility.
The virus surges dampened New Year’s celebrations around the world, with events cancelled and tens of millions spending the holidays under some form of restrictions.
The British government, which is responsible for health policies in England only, has put in place some precautions but so far refused to curb socialising and large events despite record case numbers last week.
It has pointed to the less dramatic rise in hospitalisations compared with case numbers as justification.
“Curbs on our freedom must be an absolute last resort and the British people rightly expect us to do everything in our power to avert them,” Health Secretary Sajid Javid wrote in the Daily Mail newspaper.
“I’ve been determined that we must give ourselves the best chance of living alongside the virus,” he added, noting the “enormous health, social and economic costs of lockdowns”.
Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have all rolled out new rules since Christmas limiting gatherings.
Despite virus concerns, populations in many parts of the world have grown increasingly weary of restrictions, sparking regular protests and defiance in some countries.
Dutch police on Saturday broke up a rave in breach of Covid rules that was attended by hundreds in a disused factory, local media reported.
Dozens of police officers entered the makeshift venue in the central town of Rijswijk with hundreds more mobilised to shepherd people away, NOS television said.
The illegal rave attracted people from far and wide with locals saying they had seen vehicles come in from France and Germany but also as far away as Spain and Italy.
And in Stuttgart, Germany, about 100 activists attempted to stage an unauthorised protest against Covid vaccines and restrictions.
The virus was also on the minds of some worshippers who hiked to the summit of Mount Mitake in Japan to pray at a shrine and watch the first sunrise of 2022.
“Naturally, I prayed for a new year to be one in which the coronavirus goes away,” said visitor Rie Mogi.
SPANISH COPS BREAK UP Covid SEX PARTY
It comes as Spanish police were called to break up a New Year’s Eve sex party after two guests accidentally knocked on the door of the wrong house.
According to Spanish daily El Mundo, a local resident had two people try to enter his house by mistake.
Police were called to the scene and they found more than 50 people had breached Covid restrictions in LIica d’Amunt near Barcelona.
The party was reportedly organised by a group of Americans who allegedly hired prostitutes.
An unidentified number of people believed to be between 50 and 70 have been identified and now face fines.
Under Spain’s Covid restrictions, only 10 people could meet up for a gathering for New Year’s Eve in the northeast Catalan region. There was also a night-time curfew from 1am to 6am is also in force.
NEW ZEALAND CASES RISE
New Zealand has recorded 105 new cases in the 48 hours, with 43 people hospitalised with the virus.
Two people with Covid-19 have died over the past two days, according to the NZ Ministry of Health.
Two new Omicron cases were reported among arriving travellers, taking the total Omicron cases at the border to date to 90, the ministry said.
NEW DOUBLE INFECTION ‘FLURONA’ EMERGES
A young pregnant woman has become the first person in the world to be infected with both Covid-19 and the flu in what has been dubbed “flurona”.
The woman tested positive for both viruses in Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva city, Israel, on Thursday.
“She was diagnosed with the flu and coronavirus as soon as she arrived,” said Arnon Vizhnitser, director of the gynaecology department of Beilinson Hospital said.
“Both tests came back positive, even after we checked again,” he told local newspaper Hamodia.
“The disease is the same disease: they’re viral and cause difficulty breathing since both attack the upper respiratory tract,” Prof Vizhnitser added.
She is suffering mild symptoms and Israeli health officials are studying her case to determine whether the combination causes any greater severity of illness.
The woman is expected to be discharged on Thursday.
Professor Vizhnitser said: “We are seeing more and more pregnant women with the flu. It is definitely a great challenge dealing with a woman who comes in with a fever at childbirth.”
The Israeli Health Ministry is believed to be studying the results to figure out whether the combination of the two infections simultaneously can cause a more serious illness.
CASE SURGE AS SCHOOLS GET SET TO REOPEN
Millions of US schoolkids are set to return to class on Monday as Omicron cases in the nation surge.
Despite Omicron cases heading for a peak of 5.4 million, most of the nation’s largest school districts have decided to remain open, citing the toll that remote learning has taken on students’ mental health and academic success.
But the highly contagious Omicron variant is still racing across the country, and teachers, parents and workplaces are bracing for the impact.
“I figured that over these two weeks of break, everyone has been everywhere visiting everybody,” Teresa Morrison, who plans to keep her daughter from attending a school in San Antonio, Texas, told The New York Times.
Despite parental concerns, the US Department of Education is pushing schools to keep with on-site learning.
“It is incredibly important that all schools work to remain open for in-person learning five days a week, especially in light of the Omicron variant,” a Department of Education resource guide addressed to school leaders read.
Paediatrician Dr. Peter Hoetz told CNN the reopening of schools would prove challenging.
“You have got a screaming level of transmission in the Northeast, in New York City and Washington, DC. Trying to open schools at this point, it’s hard to imagine how things will go well.”
“So I really just anticipate January to be a disaster.”
In a study by Columbia University, researchers speculated that the Omicron-fuelled cases would peak to around 2.5 million by January 9. However, others have estimated the surge to go to 5.4 million before the milder strain begins to peter out.
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