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☆ Analysis: Oil rebound more likely this year, $100 a barrel possible, OPEC sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Alex Lawler | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

OPEC and OPEC+ do not publish oil price forecasts and do not have a price target. Officials and ministers from OPEC and OPEC+, are often reluctant to discuss the direction of prices on the record. Reuters spoke privately to five more OPEC country officials about the prospect of $100 oil. The IEA, which represents 31 countries including top consumer the United States, did not immediately reply on Friday to a request for comment on what $100 oil would mean for its members. In November, Birol said $100 oil was a real risk for the global economy.

☆ China to launch state-backed transport platform for ride-hailing, trucking
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HONG KONG, Jan 18 (Reuters) - China will soon launch a state-backed platform for transport which includes services of ride-hailing, cargo trucking, road transport, railway, ferry and flight services, Chinese state media Beijing Daily reported on Wednesday. China's ride-hailing market was dominated by Didi Global which ran afoul of powerful regulator the Cyberspace Administration of China in 2021. The 18-month ban on the ride-hailer was lifted on Monday after the company took effective measures to ensure platform safety and data security. The state-backed platform, called "Qiang Guo Jiao Tong" - or "Powerful Nation's Transportation" - will offer people convenient services while maintaining data security and protecting personal privacy, Beijing Daily reported. Other social media apps such as Wechat, Alipay and Douyin will be integrated into the platform, the report added.

According to official statistics, there were about five medical personnel and fewer than five hospital beds per 1,000 people in China’s rural areas in 2020, compared with more than 11 medical personnel and almost nine hospital beds in urban areas. Jiao Yahui, an official at the National Health Commission, said the government’s Covid strategy for rural areas had two main focuses. The lack of facilities means those with Covid are more likely to travel elsewhere for treatment or simply recover at home to avoid further exposure in hospitals. A local resident with the last name Li said he had attended five funerals since last December, all for people who died after contracting Covid. He said he had heard that at least 300 older people died this winter in the county, not including its administered villages or towns.

If doctors believe that the death was caused solely by COVID-19 pneumonia, they must report to their superiors, who will arrange for two levels of "expert consultations" before a COVID death is confirmed, it said. "We have stopped classifying COVID deaths since the reopening in December," said a doctor at a large public hospital in Shanghai. Three other doctors at public hospitals in different cities said they were unaware of any such guidance. Before Saturday, China was reporting five or fewer COVID deaths per day. But the hospital told him it had run out of medicine, so they could only go home.

☆ China reports 60,000 COVID-related deaths, says peak passed
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING — China on Saturday reported nearly 60,000 deaths in people who had COVID-19 since early December following complaints it was failing to release data, and said the “emergency peak” of its latest surge appears to have passed. The toll included 5,503 deaths due to respiratory failure caused by COVID-19 and 54,435 fatalities from other ailments combined with COVID-19 since Dec. 8, the National Health Commission announced. The report would more than double China’s official COVID-19 death toll to 10,775 since the disease was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019. China has counted only deaths from pneumonia or respiratory failure in its official COVID-19 death toll, a narrow definition that excludes many deaths that would be attributed to COVID-19 in other places. “These data show the national emergency peak has passed,” Jiao said at a news conference.

☆ China reports huge rise in Covid deaths after WHO criticized Beijing for heavily undercounting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The World Health Organization said this week that China was heavily under-reporting deaths from COVID, although it was now providing more information on its outbreak. China, which last reported daily COVID death figures on Monday, has repeatedly defended the veracity of its data on the disease. On Saturday, Jiao said China divides COVID-related deaths between those from respiratory failure due to coronavirus infection and those from underlying disease combined with coronavirus infection. Last month, a Chinese health expert at a government news conference said only deaths caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure after contracting COVID would be classified as COVID deaths. However, he said, it was unclear whether the new data accurately reflects actual fatalities because doctors are discouraged from reporting COVID-related deaths and the numbers include only deaths in hospitals.

☆ China's COVID fever and emergency hospitalisations have peaked, health official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Patients receive IV drip treatment at a community health service centre, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Shanghai, China January 9, 2023. cnsphoto via REUTERSSHANGHAI, Jan 14 (Reuters) - COVID fever and emergency hospitalisations have peaked in China and the number of hospitalised COVID patients is continuing to decline, a Chinese health official said on Saturday. Nationwide, "the number of fever clinic visitors is generally in a declining trend after peaking, both in cities and rural areas," Jiao Yahui, an official from the National Health Commission, told a news conference. Jiao said the number of emergency treatment patients was also declining and the ratio of patients who had tested positive for COVID-19 was steadily falling as well. The number of severe cases has also peaked, she added, though remained at a high level, and patients were mostly elderly. Wen Daxiang, a Shanghai Health Commission official, said China would strengthen health monitoring and management of the high-risk population.

☆ China reports 59,938 COVID-related hospital deaths since Dec. 8
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Jan 14 (Reuters) - China said nearly 60,000 people with COVID-19 had died in hospital since it abruptly dismantled its zero-COVID policy in early December, a big increase from previously reported figures that follows global criticism of the country's coronavirus data. China last reported daily figures of COVID deaths on Monday. Authorities had been reporting five or fewer deaths a day over the past month - figures inconsistent with long queues seen at funeral homes and body bags seen leaving crowded hospitals. While international health experts have predicted at least 1 million COVID-related deaths this year, China had previously reported just over 5,000 since the pandemic began, one of the lowest death rates in the world. Reporting by Tony Munroe Editing by Mark Heinrich and Helen PopperOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Long queues formed at the Hong Kong international airport's check-in counters for flights to mainland cities including Beijing, Tianjin and Xiamen. Hong Kong media outlets estimated that thousands were crossing. Beijing has quotas on the number of people who can travel between Hong Kong and China each day. I'm thrilled, I can't believe it’s happening,” said a businesswoman surnamed Shen, 55, who flew in from Hong Kong. The World Health Organisation said on Wednesday that China's COVID data underrepresents the number of hospitalisations and deaths from the disease.

☆ A promising new Covid pill shows key advantages over Paxlovid in trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Aria Bendix | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A new antiviral pill for Covid was found to be as effective as Paxlovid at curbing mild to moderate illness among people at high risk of severe disease in a Phase 3 trial in China. The results, published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine, suggest that the treatment had fewer side effects than Paxlovid, the go-to antiviral for high-risk patients. Around 67% of people who took the experimental pill, called VV116, reported side effects, compared to to 77% who took Paxlovid. In the trial of VV116, more than 380 people took the experimental drug, while a similarly sized group took Paxlovid. The median time to recovery — defined as no Covid symptoms for two consecutive days — was four days for VV116 recipients and five days for those who took Paxlovid.

Around 67% of people who took the experimental pill, called VV116, reported side effects, compared to to 77% who took Paxlovid. In the trial of VV116, more than 380 people took the experimental drug, while a similarly sized group took Paxlovid. The median time to recovery — defined as no Covid symptoms for two consecutive days — was four days for VV116 recipients and five days for those who took Paxlovid. Three-quarters of the trial participants were vaccinated, though the study found consistent results regardless of vaccine status. The National Institutes of Health recommends Paxlovid, with molnupiravir as an alternative in situations when neither Paxlovid nor remdesivir is available or appropriate.

☆ Chinese provinces hit hard by Covid are seeing a strain on critical care, health officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING — Some Chinese provinces' intensive care beds and resources are nearing capacity as Covid-19 infections soar, national health authorities said Tuesday. In such regions, Jiao said, "it is necessary to expand the availability of ICU beds and resources, or speed up turnover." Overall, Jiao claimed national availability of ICU beds was sufficient, at 12.8 per 100,000 people as of Dec. 25. It is unclear at what scale Covid outbreaks have hit the country, with few official figures on recent infections and deaths. China's National Health Commission on Sunday stopped sharing daily figures after a halt in mandatory virus testing.

☆ China expands hospitals and ICUs as it faces Covid surge
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Medical workers wear PPE as they stand next to people waiting in line outside a fever clinic on Dec. 9, 2022 in Beijing, China. A Cabinet meeting called Thursday for "full mobilization" of hospitals including adding staff to ensure their "combat effectiveness" and increasing drug supplies, according to state media. Officials were told to keep track of the health of everyone in their area aged 65 and older. It isn't clear how much infection numbers have increased since Beijing last week ended mandatory testing as often as once a day in many areas. But interviews and social media accounts say there are outbreaks in businesses and schools across the country.

☆ Best Chinese food: 32 must-try dishes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Maggie Hiufu Wong | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

Dan dan noodlesIt’s nearly impossible to dislike China’s soul-comforting dan dan mian, or dan dan noodles. Dan dan noodles are named after the way they were originally sold more than 100 years ago – on a dan dan, a carrying pole, by street hawkers. Some think dan dan noodles should contain a dry mix of noodles, made with minced meat, chopped scallions, spices, crushed peanuts and various sauces. Others disagree, preferring dan dan noodles in a hot, spicy, salty and nutty broth albeit with similar ingredients. Similar to Hainanese chicken rice, the Wenchang version is often served with yellow chicken fat rice and chicken soup.

Persons: –, It’s, Dan, mian, jiao, you’ve, Ding Baozeng, Ding Gongbao, Ding, Hanyuan, cai, hei, Jian bing, jian bing, bing guozi, Chen, chow, Su Dongpo, China’s, zhu, Shui zhu, zhu niu, Bao Bao, bao, jian bao, Rou jia, xin, cheung, yun cheung, Laap cheung, Yun cheung, Congee, Chaozhou Organizations: CNN, Adobe, Adobe Stock Locations: China, Peking, Nanjing, Beijing, Govan, –, Sichuan, Hunan, Shandong province, Fujian, Hainan, Malaysia, Pidu, It’s, Tianjin, Chen, Shunde district, Shaanxi, Fuding county, Ningbo

☆ I quit my manager role at Google after 10 years and moved my family from California to Austin, Texas. People questioned my decision, but it was worth it.
▼ + stars: | 2022-03-15 | by ( Kiera Fields | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In 2011, after two years at Oracle, Jian Jiao started working at Google as an applications engineer. This is Jiao's story of his time at Google and why he left to work for BP, as told to Kiera Fields. I didn't realize the internship I did at the software company Oracle would fast-track me to a tenure at Google. My tech lead at Oracle left in 2011 to start a new team at Google and asked me to join. At Google, I worked on advanced technology surrounded by people who were completely aligned with my goals and technical knowledge.

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