China has said it will stop reporting asymptomatic Covid-19 cases since they have become impossible to track with mass testing no longer required, another step in the country’s departure from some of the world’s strictest antivirus policies.
The change in reporting practices comes the week after the country announced its most significant easing yet of antivirus measures.
Meanwhile, China has begun to see what appears to be a rapid increase in new infections, raising concerns that its health system could be overwhelmed just as those in other countries were during early Covid waves.
So far, many of those newly sick are staying at home, and there has been little evidence of a surge in patient numbers. However, some hospitals have reportedly struggled to remain staffed because of rising infections among employees.
A notice on the National Health Commission’s website on Wednesday said it stopped publishing daily figures on asymptomatic Covid-19 cases since it was “impossible to accurately grasp” the number of those infections, which have generally accounted for the vast majority of new cases.
The only numbers the commission is reporting are confirmed cases detected in public testing facilities where symptoms are displayed. Many people also test at home, and any positive results there would also not be captured.
China’s government-supplied figures have not been independently verified, and questions have been raised about whether the ruling Communist Party has sought to minimise numbers of cases and deaths.
While many governments have long focused on only the more serious cases, the latest move is part of a sea change for China, which has maintained a “zero Covid” policy that seeks to stamp out all virus transmission.
That included frequent mass testing campaigns and meant that anyone who tested positive was isolated in a government facility, even if they had no symptoms. Now people can recover at home if they do not need medical care.
While many greeted the relaxing of the rules with relief, the rapid shift has also caused some concern after years in which the Chinese government talked about the virus as a major threat.
“Beijing is really confused right now,” said one resident. “They made a complete 180-degree turn without even going through a transitionary period.”
The man said he was not able to find a test after developing a sore throat and a fever. Authorities have said they will provide 25 million rapid test kits for Beijing pharmacies after a rush on such supplies.
Despite the easing, the streets of many major Chinese cities have grown quiet as many people stay home, not because they have to, but because they are worried about contracting the virus at a time when social media is lighting up with reports of infections.
With a clean bill of health still required to enter restaurants and some other public venues, many Chinese are also choosing to forgo such pleasures to avoid testing, leaving many establishments closed or empty.
Lines have formed outside some fever clinics in Beijing — the number of which has increased from 94 to more than 300.
Pharmacies in Beijing are rationing out medicine and other supplies. Rapid antigen tests are sold out across the city and online.
Some have taken to ordering from pharmacies in the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong, which has been steadily relaxing its restrictions. Like much of the world, Hong Kong uses mRNA vaccines that are widely considered more effective than those mandated by China.
The elderly are more at risk of becoming seriously ill, and China has tried to boost vaccinations among older people. But two centres set up in Beijing to administer shots were empty on Tuesday except for medical personnel.
Still, there was little evidence of a surge in people being hospitalized.
Without asymptomatic cases being counted, China reported just 2,249 “confirmed” infections on Wednesday, bringing the nation’s total to 369,918 — more than double the level on October 1. It has recorded 5,235 deaths — compared with 1.1 million in the United States.
President Xi Jinping’s government is still officially committed to stopping virus transmission. But the latest moves suggest the party will tolerate more cases without quarantines or shutting down travel or businesses.
Starting on Tuesday, China also stopped tracking some travel, though China’s international borders remain largely shut.
The move follows the government’s dramatic announcement last week that it was ending many of the strictest measures. That came after Beijing and several other cities saw protests over the measures that grew into calls for Mr Xi and the Communist Party to step down — a level of public dissent not seen in decades.
