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☆ Nearly 2 million excess deaths followed China's sudden end of COVID curbs - study
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Bernard Orr | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The study by the federally funded Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle was taken from a sample of mortality data published by some universities in China and internet searches. It found an estimated 1.87 million excess deaths from all causes occurred among people over 30 years of age between December 2022 and January 2023, and were observed in all provinces in mainland China except Tibet. In the study, researchers performed statistical analysis using information from published obituaries and data from searches on Baidu, a popular Chinese internet search engine. "Our study of excess deaths related to the lifting of the zero-COVID policy in China sets an empirically derived benchmark estimate. The World Health Organization says there have been 121,628 COVID deaths in China, out of a total global toll of almost 7 million.

Persons: Thomas Peter, cremations, China's, COVID, Bernard Orr, Lincoln Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Baidu, Health Commission, Global, World Health Organization, National Bureau of Disease Control, Prevention, Global Times, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Rights BEIJING, U.S, Seattle, Tibet

LONDON/SINGAPORE, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Global stocks rose on Friday for the first time in three days ahead of key U.S. jobs data, as investors took heart from reports China may relax its COVID rules, boosting major currencies against the dollar and prompting a 2% rally in oil. The Hang Seng (.HSI) rose 5.4%, bringing gains for the week to 8.75%, its strongest weekly performance in a decade. This has been one of the factors that has enabled the Fed to relentlessly raise interest rates to tame inflation. In commodities, oil bounced, fuelled by hopes for a relaxation of zero-COVID rules in China, which is home to some of the world's biggest energy consumers. Brent crude rose 3% to $97.66 a barrel, while U.S. crude gained 3.5% to trade at $91.26 a barrel.

☆ China to host press conference on targeted COVID prevention on Nov 5
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, Nov 4 (Reuters) - China health authorities will host a press conference on targeted COVID-19 prevention on Nov. 5 at 3 pm (0700 GMT), according to an official notice. Experts and officials from China's National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention will attend the meeting, according to the notice published on China.com.cn, where China releases official press conference schedules. Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Himani SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

HONG KONG, Nov 4 (Reuters) - China may soon shorten COVID-19 quarantine requirements for inbound travellers from the current 10 days to seven or eight days, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday. Such a move would follow China's decision in June to slash quarantine time for inbound travellers by half. Health officials at the time said the shorter incubation period of the Omicron variant allowed for shorter quarantine times. Travel in and out of China has plunged as the country pursues "dynamic COVID zero" policies that include mandatory quarantine and RT-PCR tests for travellers upon arrival. International flights to and from China are at a small fraction of pre-COVID levels.

☆ China to make 'substantial' COVID policy changes soon - ex-govt expert
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"The situation is changing now and China's 'dynamic zero' will also undergo major changes. Substantive changes will happen soon," he said, according to the recording of the session, which was titled "China's Exit Strategy from Zero-Covid". Chinese health authorities will hold a press conference on Saturday on COVID-19 prevention, according to a notice that said officials from the the National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention would attend. LOCKDOWNS AND PROTESTSZeng was part of a top team at China's National Health Commission when the virus started to spread from the central Chinese city of Wuhan to other parts of China in 2020. On Wednesday, the country's National Health Commission said the nation should unwaveringly stick to zero-COVID.

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