BEIJING: When Ailia's 85-year-old father succumbed to COVID-like symptoms as the virus spread through their hometown in the south-eastern province of Jiangxi, she was devastated.
Ailia believes that COVID-19 was the cause of her father's death, despite the fact that he was never tested. On the other hand, she and her mother both tested positive around the same time.
Advertisement During the Chinese New Year holiday that begins on January 21, hundreds of millions of Chinese will travel to reunite with their families. Many of them will do so after mourning relatives who died in the COVID-19 epidemic that has swept the world's largest population.
When China abruptly ended its zero-COVID policy in December 2022 after three years of testing, travel restrictions, and lockdowns, many people's grief is mixed with anger over what they say was a lack of preparation to protect the elderly.
Ailia, 56, stated that, like many Chinese, she had advocated for the economy to be reopened. In late December, a few weeks after China lifted its COVID-19 restrictions, her father passed away.
She stated over the phone, "We wanted things to open up, but not in this way – not at the expense of so many elderly people, which has a huge impact on every family."
China announced on Saturday (January 14) that there had been nearly 60,000 COVID-related hospital deaths since the end of zero-COVID, a 10-fold increase from previous figures. However, many international experts contend that this is an undercount in part due to the fact that it does not include people who died at home, such as Ailia's father.
A Chinese official said on Saturday that 90% of those who died were 65 or older, and the average age was 80.3 years.
China rejects the criticism that many experts have leveled against it, asserting that it did not take advantage of the three-year ban on COVID-19 to better prepare its population, particularly its hundreds of millions of elderly people, for reopening.
The lack of therapeutic drugs and inadequate vaccination rates among older people were cited as shortcomings.
On January 6, a Chinese official said that more than 90% of people over 60 had been vaccinated. However, as of November 28, the most recent date for which that data was available, only 40% of people over 80 had received booster shots.
"If only they used the resources used to control the virus to protect the elderly," said Ailia, who, like many of the people interviewed, declined to use their full name because criticizing China's government is sensitive.
Advertisement Chinese officials have repeatedly emphasized the significance of safeguarding the elderly, announcing a variety of initiatives, including vaccination drives and the establishment of a task force in Shanghai, China's largest city, to identify groups at high risk.
After rare and widespread street protests against the policy in late November, Beijing decided to end zero-COVID. However, most public complaints about China's handling of the end of COVID-19 curbs have been made via heavily censored social media.
China's handling of COVID-19, according to a number of analysts, had diminished confidence in the government, particularly among upper-middle-class urban residents, but they did not consider it a threat to President Xi Jinping or the Communist Party.
Lila Hong, a 33-year-old marketing professional for a car manufacturer, was in Wuhan three years ago when the pandemic began. She lost two grandparents and a great-uncle last month after contracting COVID-19, despite the fact that her family survived the harrowing initial period when little was known about the coronavirus.
During China's COVID-19 outbreak, Hong recalled accompanying her father to a crowded Wuhan crematorium to retrieve her grandparents' ashes. This was a gloomy but common occurrence.
Advertisement "The circumstance ought to have been very solemn and respectful. "It felt like standing in line at the hospital, which is what you imagine it to be like," she stated.
Hong asserted, "I’m not saying reopening is bad." They should have given more time for preparation, in my opinion."
Related:
A Beijing resident by the name of Zhang, 66, stated that he had lost four people close to him to the virus since early December, including his aunt, 88, who was infected while she was in the hospital. China COVID-19 peak to last two to three months, hit rural areas next. Chinese worry about infecting elderly as holidays prompt COVID-19 warnings.
He shared the opinion of others that he thought the events surrounding her death were chaotic, hurried, and against tradition.
"People haven't had a chance to say goodbye to loved ones. He stated, "We ought to be able to at least have a decent death if we cannot live a decent life."
"It's extremely sad."
TRUST DEFICIT: Of the seven grieving relatives Reuters spoke with for this article, all but one claimed that COVID-19 was not listed on the death certificates of their loved ones, despite the fact that they believe it was a major cause of death.
Official death tolls were also misunderstood by relatives, with some citing a loss of faith in the government after three years of zero-COVID pandemic management.
Philip, a 22-year-old student from the Beijing-area province of Hebei, backed the anti-lockdown protests in November. However, he feels let down by the way the reopening has been handled and blames the government.
They seem to have all the power in the world, but their performance was subpar. Philip, who lost his 78-year-old grandfather on December 30, stated, "I think he would have to resign if it was a CEO of a company."
He recalled, "There was no effective medicine in the hospital." There weren't enough beds, and it was very crowded."
His grandfather's body was quickly removed from the bed after his death and replaced by another patient.
"The doctors and nurses were extremely busy. They appeared to constantly issue copies of death certificates to relatives. It's a terrible tragedy that so many people died."
You must be logged in to post a comment.