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☆ China weighs giving single women IVF access to stem population decline
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Crucially, Chen could access in-vitro fertility (IVF) treatment legally in a private clinic. We have liberalized the policies here and I know a lot of single women are doing IVF." watch nowLiberalizing IVF nationwide could unleash more demand for fertility treatment in what is already the world's biggest market, straining limited fertility services. The NHC's Sichuan branch did not address questions from Reuters about whether it would offer IVF treatment to all women in public hospitals. Shanghai and the southern Guangdong province have also permitted unmarried women to register their children but IVF services for single women remain banned.

REUTERS/Tingshu WangHONG KONG/BEIJING/SHANGHAI, March 3 (Reuters) - As unprecedented protests against China's zero-COVID policies escalated in November, Li Qiang, the man recently elevated to No.2 on the ruling Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, seized the moment. Meanwhile, some local-level party workers and healthcare officials were grappling with growing challenges in implementing the zero-COVID policy. "From my perspective, it's not that we set out to relax the zero-COVID policy, it's more that we at the local level were simply not able to enforce the zero-COVID policy anymore," the official said. In mid-November, when Xi was still in Southeast Asia, he ordered Chinese authorities to "unswervingly" execute the zero-COVID policy, said two of the people, after which some cities retightened curbs. Xi's vacillating led to renewed debate on COVID policy among top leaders during mid to late November, one of these people and another person said.

☆ In aging China, a call for 'bold' steps to cut cost of having babies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, Feb 10 (Reuters) - A Chinese health official has urged local governments to take "bold" steps to lower the cost of having babies and raising children to reduce the burden on families and boost fertility, a state-backed publication reported on Friday. In addition to that is the prospect of a rapidly aging population slowing the economy as revenues drop and government debt increases because of soaring health and welfare costs. Yang Wenzhuang, director of Department of Population Monitoring and Family Development under the National Health Commission (NHC), stressed the importance of family support for improving the fertility rate, the publication the Paper reported. China had to "firmly grasp the important window period of population development" during its 14th five-year plan which runs until 2025, to accelerate "the promotion of childbearing support", he said. Yang's comments were published in the latest issue of NHC-managed magazine, Population and Health, the Paper said.

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 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.

☆ 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.

☆ Premarket stocks: Wall Street's dirty secret: It's terrible at forecasting stocks
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

What’s happening: Last year, Goldman Sachs analysts predicted that the S&P 500 would close out 2022 at 5,100 points. With those caveats, let’s get to Wall Street’s predictionsThe numbers: Forecasts for where the S&P 500 will finish 2023 vary greatly. Analysts overestimated the final value (that is, the final value finished below the estimate) in 13 of the 20 years and underestimated the final value (the final value finished above the estimate) in the other 7 years. They’re on track to have overestimated the performance of the S&P 500 in 2022 by nearly 40%. During this period, the S&P 500 has historically gained 1.3% on average, according to data from LPL Financial going back to 1950.

☆ United Airlines assessing demand before adding flights to China
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Dec 27 (Reuters) - U.S. carrier United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL.O) said on Tuesday it is currently evaluating the market demand and operating environment to determine when to resume additional flight operations to mainland China. China will stop requiring inbound travelers to go into quarantine from Jan. 8, the National Health Commission (NHC) said late on Monday. United currently operates four-times-weekly service between San Francisco and Shanghai. Reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China will drop COVID restrictions and quarantines for visitors starting in January
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Visitors to China will no longer be subject to strict COVID restrictions starting January 8. China is ending quarantine requirements for visitors, and will begin managing COVID as a Class B disease. Now, visitors will also no longer have to abide by previous COVID restrictions. China had clung to tight restrictions longer than many areas, battering the economy and angering citizens. As of December 19, there were 116,634 confirmed cases in China, according to the World Health Organization, with 28,493 new cases in the prior 24 hours.

The country will also scrap all other restrictive Covid measures for travelers, including quarantines for positive patients and contact tracing. China downgraded Covid management to a less-strict “Class B disease,” in the same category as less-severe diseases, such as Dengue fever. The existing quarantine policy for international arrivals to China was first launched in 2020 and modified over the course of the past several years. Since the world’s second largest economy drastically eased its Covid restrictions, there has been no clear data on the extent of the virus’ spread on the national level. China’s current focus is to prepare sufficient medical resources, according to the NHC statement.

☆ China's National Health Commission to stop publishing daily Covid figures
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

People line up outside a fever clinic in Beijing on Dec. 14, 2022, just days after the country relaxed its Covid controls amid below-freezing weather in the capital city. China's National Health Commission, which for the past three years or so has published daily Covid-19 case figures for the country, said it will no longer release such data from Sunday. "Relevant COVID information will be published by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention for reference and research," the NHC said in a statement, without specifying the reasons for the change or how frequently China CDC will update COVID information.

☆ China's National Health Commission to stop publishing daily COVID figures
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, Dec 25 (Reuters) - China's National Health Commission, which for the past three years or so has published daily COVID-19 case figures for the country, said it will no longer release such data from Sunday. "Relevant COVID information will be published by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention for reference and research," the NHC said in a statement, without specifying the reasons for the change or how frequently China CDC will update COVID information. Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Bernard Orr; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China health commission stops publishing daily COVID figures
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Despite the record surge of infections, the NHC had reported no COVID deaths nationwide for four consecutive days before halting the data release. China narrowed its definition for reporting COVID deaths, counting only those from COVID-caused pneumonia or respiratory failure, raising eyebrows among world health experts. British-based health data firm Airfinity last week estimated China was experiencing more than a million infections and 5,000 deaths a day. After COVID cases were breaking daily records in late November, the NHC this month stopped reporting asymptomatic infections, making it harder to track cases. The World Health Organization has received no data from China on new COVID hospitalisations since Beijing eased its restrictions.

☆ China COVID deaths probably running above 5,000 per day - UK research firm Airfinity
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Dec 22 (Reuters) - More than 5,000 people are probably dying each day from COVID-19 in China, health data firm Airfinity estimated, offering a dramatic contrast to official data from Beijing on the country's current outbreak. Its estimates were "in stark contrast to the official data which is reporting 1,800 cases and only seven official deaths over the past week," it said in a statement. On Thursday it reported no new COVID-19 deaths and 2,966 new local symptomatic cases for Dec. 21. Airfinity said its mortality risk analysis suggested between 1.3 to 2.1 million people could die in China's current COVID outbreak. Analyses by other modelling groups have also predicted as many as 2.1 million deaths.

☆ Beijing braces for surge in severe COVID cases as world watches with concern
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Bernard Orr | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/4] People wearing face masks commute in a subway station during morning rush hour, following the coronavirus disease ( COVID-19) outbreak, in Beijing, China January 20, 2021. China, which uses a narrow definition of what can be classified as COVID fatalities, reported no new COVID deaths for Dec. 20, compared with five the previous day. Severe cases rose by 53 across China on Tuesday, versus an increase of 23 the previous day. China does not provide absolute figures of severe cases. Blood clots, heart problems and sepsis - an extreme body response to infection - have caused countless deaths among COVID patients around the world.

☆ China reports first Covid deaths in weeks as virus surges through Beijing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Some fear China’s Covid death toll could rise above 1.5 million in coming months. It was not immediately clear which, if any, of these deaths were included in official death tolls. “The (official) number is clearly an undercount of Covid deaths,” said Yanzhong Huang, a global health specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a U.S. think tank. Overseas-developed vaccines are unavailable in mainland China to the general public, which has relied on inactivated shots by local manufacturers for its vaccine rollout. While China’s medical community in general doesn’t doubt the safety of China’s vaccines, some say questions remain over their efficacy compared to foreign-made mRNA counterparts.

☆ U.S. State Dept says toll of COVID in China a concern for the world
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The United States hopes that China can address the current COVID-19 outbreak as the toll of the virus is a global concern due to the size of the Chinese economy, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Monday. "The toll of the virus is of concern to the rest of the world given the size of China's GDP, given the size of China's economy," Price told a daily briefing at the State Department. "It's not only good for China to be in a stronger position vis-a-vis COVID but it's good for the rest of the world as well," Price said. He added that anytime the virus is spreading it has the potential to mutate and pose a threat everywhere. Officially China has suffered just 5,237 COVID-related deaths during the pandemic, including the latest two fatalities, a tiny fraction of its 1.4 billion population.

Reuters could not immediately establish if the deaths were due to COVID. The NHC also reported 1,995 symptomatic infections for Dec. 18, compared with 2,097 a day earlier. A hashtag on the two reported COVID deaths quickly became the top trending topic on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform on Monday morning. But it is not just the elderly that are wary of vaccines in China. While China's medical community in general doesn't doubt the safety of China's vaccines, some say questions remain over their efficacy compared to foreign-made mRNA counterparts.

[1/2] People line up next to a medical worker in a protective suit, at a fever clinic of a hospital amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Beijing, China December 15, 2022. The pivot away from President Xi Jinping's signature "zero-COVID" policy followed unprecedented widespread protests against it. But, WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan said COVID-19 infections were exploding in China well before the government's decision to phase out its stringent regime. There are increasing signs of chaos during China's exit from the zero-COVID policy - with long queues outside fever clinics, runs on medicines, and panic buying across the country. China Meheco Group Co Ltd (600056.SS) said on Wednesday it signed a deal to import the U.S. drugmaker's treatment.

But for a place that until earlier this month assiduously tracked every case, there is now no clear data on the extent of the virus’ spread. Customers queue at a pharmacy in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, December 13. Authorities on Wednesday morning reported 2,249 symptomatic Covid cases nationally for the previous day, 20% of which were detected in the capital. A closed Covid testing booth in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, December 13. Chinese state media has since warned people the preserved fruit is not a Covid remedy nor a substitute for medicine.

"I know COVID is not so 'horrifying' now, but it is still contagious and will hurt," said one post on the Weibo platform. But, while announcing the implementation of the new measures late on Wednesday, some cities urged residents to remain vigilant. It urged residents to wear masks, maintain social distancing, seek medical attention for fever and other COVID symptoms and, especially for the elderly, to get vaccinated. "It (China) may have to pay for its procrastination on embracing a 'living with Covid' approach," Nomura analysts said in a note on Thursday. Infection rates in China are only around 0.13%, "far from the level needed for herd immunity", Nomura said.

☆ China allows COVID cases with no or mild symptoms to quarantine at home
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Dec 7 (Reuters) - China's national health authority said on Wednesday that asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and those with mild symptoms can self-treat while in quarantine at home, the strongest sign so far that China is preparing its people to live with the disease. Most of the cases are asymptomatic infections and mild cases, with no special treatment required, the National Health Commission said in a statement. "Asymptomatic persons and mild cases can be isolated at home while strengthening health monitoring, and they can transfer to designated hospitals for treatment in a timely manner if their condition worsens," the NHC said. For nearly three years, China has managed COVID-19 as a dangerous disease on par with bubonic plague and cholera, but since last week, top officials have acknowledged the reduced ability of the new coronavirus to cause disease while Chinese experts suggested it is not more deadly than seasonal influenza. Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China to ramp up COVID vaccinations for its elderly
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A person walks past a poster encouraging elderly people to get vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), near a residential compound in Beijing, China March 30, 2022. REUTERS/Tingshu WangBEIJING, Nov 29 (Reuters) - China will speed up COVID-19 vaccinations for elderly people, health officials said on Tuesday, aiming to overcome a key stumbling block in efforts to ease unpopular "zero-COVID" curbs. read moreThe National Health Commission (NHC) said it would target more vaccinations at people older than 80 and reduce to three months the gap between basic vaccination and booster shots for the elderly. The elderly will get easy access through special priority services, with mobile vaccination vehicles also pressed into service, the NHC said. Recipients of a booster jab made up 68.2% of the elderly population, up marginally from 67.8% three months earlier.

☆ China to speed up vaccinations, build more designated COVID hospitals
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Nov 17 (Reuters) - China plans to speed up COVID-19 vaccinations and will release information to the public in due course, the head of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. Shen Hongbing made the comments at a regular National Health Commission (NHC) news conference when asked if foreign vaccines would become available. read moreAuthorities highlighted the need to build more designated COVID hospitals and increase the number of beds in intensive care units. "ICU beds need to account for 10% of total beds," NHC official Guo Yanhong said. Several cities where cases are rising like Guangzhou and Beijing are conducting mass-testing but other cities have pulled back on testing.

The number of daily cases in China rose from 11,950 on Nov. 11, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Sunday. Capital city Beijing reported a record 235 new daily cases, up from 116 the previous day, local government data showed. Zhengzhou city in the Henan province, home to Apple supplier Foxconn's plant (2317.TW), reported a record 2,642 new daily cases. Foxconn has said it aims to resume full production in the second half of November, after operations were disrupted due to COVID prevention measures. read moreNHC said in a statement on Sunday that the COVID prevention and control situation remained "serious and complex".

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