BEIJING, April 9, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - China is battling its biggest spike in
coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with millions under
lockdown and the healthcare system feeling the pressure.

  One of the last countries sticking to a zero-Covid strategy, China aims to
stamp out every infection with strict lockdowns and by sending all cases to
secure facilities.

  That is placing a strain on China's already under-pressure medical system,
as the highly transmissible Omicron variant rapidly moves through the
population.

  Here are some of China's key challenges in the fight against Covid:

  - Vaccination rates -

  Beijing says more than 1.2 billion people in China had received two doses
of a Covid vaccine by mid-March -- nearly 90 percent of the population.

  It has also launched a booster campaign but more than half of the
population has yet to receive a third shot.

  A major challenge is protecting the elderly, with only around half of
Chinese people aged above 80 double-vaccinated and fewer than a fifth having
received a booster.

  Among the over-60s, just over half have received a third shot.

  Officials have launched a fresh push to encourage older people to get a
third dose, after hospitals in Hong Kong were overwhelmed by a wave of severe
cases -- mostly unvaccinated elderly patients.

  China is using homegrown vaccines and has not approved any foreign-made
shots, but it has given "conditional" approval to Pfizer's Covid-19 drug
Paxlovid.

  Chinese vaccines have shown a lower rate of efficacy in studies compared
with many foreign jabs.

  However, several Chinese vaccine makers have recently been given the go-
ahead for clinical trials on a domestically-made mRNA Covid jab -- the same
technology as the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna shots.

  - Hospitals stretched -

  China's healthcare system was understaffed and struggling to cope with its
huge and ageing population even before the pandemic.

  According to the National Health Commission, China has only 2.9 general
practitioners per 10,000 people. Britain has around the same number for every
1,000 people.

  Some Chinese regions are woefully under-resourced.

  In Jilin province, site of a recent Covid cluster, authorities said there
were only 22,880 hospital beds for a population of 24 million.

  Peking University researchers have warned that China could suffer a
"colossal outbreak" that would quickly overwhelm its medical system if the
authorities relaxed restrictions to a similar degree as in Europe and the
United States.

  It would likely lead to hundreds of thousands of new cases a day, the
researchers said.

  - Urban-rural divide -

  Despite huge reductions in rural poverty, there are still significant
differences in access to healthcare between the countryside and cities.

  Much of China's wealth, equipment and expertise is based in top-tier cities
where richer residents can choose between a range of hospitals including
international clinics.

  According to a National Health Commission report last year, China had only
1.6 medical workers per 1,000 people in rural areas and just 1.5 hospital
beds.

  Although nearly 40 percent of the population lives in the countryside,
rural China had a total of only 1.4 million hospital beds.

  Rural Chinese who migrate to cities for work also struggle to access
healthcare in the cities due to red tape.

  - Maintaining 'zero-Covid' -

  Despite being China's most developed city, Shanghai has descended into
crisis as authorities scramble to find enough beds for people who test
positive.

  Authorities have said 130,000 new beds are ready or under construction at
makeshift venues.

  About 40,000 beds are being set up at Shanghai's landmark National
Exhibition and Convention Center.

  But most are currently filled by people with mild symptoms or none at all.

  Meanwhile, Shanghai residents under lockdown have complained about a lack
of access to food and medicines unrelated to Covid.

  "Draconian, heavy-handed zero-Covid control measures" have overwhelmed the
medical system, according to Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global
health at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

  This is "an outcome that the zero-Covid strategy is supposed to avoid", he
told AFP.

  Two thousand soldiers and 38,000 medical workers from around the country
have been sent to Shanghai as reinforcements.

  At least two asthma patients died after reportedly being refused medical
services due to Covid rules.

  As pressure on the system grows, some close contacts of patients are being
allowed to quarantine at home, while rapid home testing kits have been
deployed for the first time.

  Shanghai health commission chief Wu Jinglei said this week that although
the city had 50 percent more ambulances on the road than before the outbreak,
it still could not handle all the requests for medical help.