China's 'great migration' kicks-off under shadow of COVID

Cansino Biologics

07/01/2023 06:44

By Casey Hall
       SHANGHAI, Jan 7 (Reuters) - China on Saturday marked the
first day of "chun yun", the 40-day period of Lunar New Year
travel known pre-pandemic as the world's largest annual
migration of people, bracing for a huge increase in travellers
and the spread of COVID-19 infections.  
    This Lunar New Year public holiday, which officially runs
from Jan. 21, will be the first since 2020 without domestic
travel restrictions.
    Over the last month China has seen the dramatic dismantling
of its "zero-COVID" regime following historic protests against a
policy that included frequent testing, restricted movement, mass
lockdowns and heavy damage to the world's No.2 economy.
    Investors are hoping that the reopening will eventually
reinvigorate a $17-trillion economy suffering its lowest growth
in nearly half a century.
    But the abrupt changes have exposed many of China's 1.4
billion population to the virus for the first time, triggering a
wave of infections that is overwhelming some hospitals, emptying
pharmacy shelves of medication and causing long lines to form at
crematoriums. 
    China's Ministry of Transport said on Friday that it expects
more than 2 billion passengers to take trips over the next 40
days, an increase of 99.5% year-on-year and reaching 70.3% of
2019 trip numbers. 
    Reaction to that news online was mixed, with some comments
hailing the freedom to return to hometowns and celebrate the
Lunar New Year with family for the first time in years. 
    Many others, however, said they would not travel this year,
with worry of infecting elderly relatives a common theme.
    "I dare not go back to my hometown, for fear of bringing the
poison back," said one such comment on the Twitter-like Weibo.
    There are widespread concerns that the great migration of
workers in cities to their hometowns will cause a surge in
infections in smaller towns and rural areas less well-equipped
with ICU beds and ventilators to deal with them.
    Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital
Economics, acknowledged that risk in a Friday note but went on
to say that "in the large cities that make up much of China's
economy, it seems the worst has passed".
    Ernan Cui, analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics in Beijing, cited
several online surveys as indicating that the current wave of
infections may have already peaked in most regions, noting there
was "not much difference between urban and rural areas."
    BORDER REOPENING
    Sunday marks the reopening of China's border with Hong Kong
and the end of China's requirement for inbound international
travellers to quarantine. That effectively opened the door for
many Chinese to travel abroad for the first time since borders
slammed shut nearly three years ago, without fear of having to
quarantine on their return.
    More than a dozen countries are now demanding COVID tests
from Chinese travellers, as the World Health Organisation said
China's official virus data underreported the true extent of its
outbreak.
    Chinese officials and state media have defended the handling
of the outbreak, playing down the severity of the surge and
denouncing foreign travel requirements for its residents.
    On Saturday in Hong Kong, people who had made appointments
had to queue for about 90 minutes at a centre for PCR tests
needed for travel to countries including mainland China.   
    TREATMENT TO THE FORE
    For much of the pandemic, China poured resources into a vast
PCR testing program to track and trace COVID-19 cases, but the
focus is now shifting to vaccines and treatment. 
    In Shanghai, for example, the city government on Friday
announced an end to free PCR tests for residents from Jan. 8. 
    A circular published by four government ministries Saturday
signalled a reallocation of financial resources to treatment,
outlining a plan for public finances to subsidise 60% of
treatment costs until March 31.
    Meanwhile, sources told Reuters that China is in talks with
Pfizer Inc  PFE.N  to secure a licence that will allow domestic
drugmakers to manufacture and distribute a generic version of
the U.S. firm's COVID-19 antiviral drug Paxlovid in China.
    Many Chinese have been attempting to buy the drug abroad and
have it shipped to China. 
    On the vaccine front, China's CanSino Biologics Inc
 6185.HK  announced it has begun trial production for its
COVID-19 mRNA booster vaccine, known as CS-2034.
    China has relied on nine domestically-developed COVID
vaccines approved for use, including inactivated vaccines, but
none have been adapted to target the highly-transmissible
Omicron variant and its offshoots currently in circulation.
    The overall vaccination rate in the country is above 90%,
but the rate for adults who have had booster shots drops to
57.9%, and to 42.3% for people aged 80 and older, according to
government data released last month.
    China reported three new COVID deaths in the mainland for
Friday, bringing its official virus death toll to 5,267, one of
the lowest in the world. International health experts believe
Beijing's narrow definition of COVID deaths does not reflect a
true toll, and some predict more than a million fatalities this
year.
 (Reporting by Casey Hall in Shanghai, Julie Zhu in Hong Kong
and Kevin Huang, additional reporting by Jindong Zhang; Editing
by Tony Munroe)
 ((Casey.Hall@thomsonreuters.com;))