China Covid: Young people self-infect as fears for elderly grow | BBC News:
January 6, 2023 - "When Mr Chen's 85-year-old father fell ill with Covid in December, it was impossible to get an ambulance or see a doctor. They went to Chaoyang Hospital in Beijing, where they were told to either try other hospitals or sit in the corridor with an IV drip.... The elder Mr Chen has now recovered, but his son worries that a second infection in the future could kill him....
"The final step in China's swift reversal of its contentious zero-Covid policy [came] on Sunday when it reopen[ed] borders for international travel. With mass testing, stringent quarantines and sudden, sweeping lockdowns gone, families like Mr Chen's are wary of what lies ahead. But younger Chinese, all of whom did not wish to be named, feel differently - and some told the BBC they were voluntarily exposing themselves to infection.
"A 27-year-old coder in Shanghai, who did not receive any of the Chinese vaccines, says he voluntarily exposed himself to the virus. 'Because I don't want to change my holiday plan,' he explains, 'and I could make sure I recovered and won't be infected again during the holiday if I intentionally control the time I get infected.' He admits he did not expect the muscle aches that came with the infection, but says the symptoms have been largely as expected.
"Another Shanghai resident, a 26-year-old woman, tells the BBC she visited her friend who had tested positive 'so I could get Covid as well'. But she says her recovery has been hard: 'I thought it would be like getting a cold but it was much more painful.'
"A 29-year-old who works for a state-run business based in Jiaxing, in the northern Zhejiang province, says she was thrilled when she heard the country's borders were reopening.... 'Life was ridiculous when I had to ask my manager's permission to travel. I just want life to get back to normal,' she says.... She herself has not tested positive for the virus yet, but concedes that - when her husband did - she wore a mask 24/7 at home, even when she was sleeping. 'I did not want us to be sick at the same time,' she says. 'But I'm not scared of the virus, as the severe symptoms are rare'....
"At least in the big cities, people have been returning to malls, restaurants and parks, and even queuing up for visas and tourist permits. The state-run Global Times newspaper declared 'normal times are back', attributing the line to interviews with Chinese.... But beyond the major cities, it is difficult to know how people - particularly in China's rural regions - are responding to an about-face in government messaging.
"For three years, state-run media presented the virus as a dangerous menace to society, vowing that it would achieve "dynamic zero-Covid" to keep the population safe. But that rhetoric has been turned on its head in recent weeks, with doctors regularly trotted out to call for calm over confusion.
"Mrs Li, a 52-year-old in Beijing, argues the government 'did the right thing' for the first two years but should have ended its zero-Covid policy in early 2022.... 'Also winter is the worst season to do it. Why not wait until next spring? And why didn't the government prepare enough resources before opening up?' she asks. '2022 was the worst year for us. I can only pray 2023 won't be any worse.'"
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-64183281
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