People gather outside a local pharmacy to buy medications to treat COVID-19 symptoms on Dec. 11 in Beijing. Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
China is setting up new intensive care facilities in response to rising COVID-19 cases, AP reports.
Driving the news: Some Chinese cities, including Beijing, are facing outbreaks, which has forced some businesses to close due to infected workers, Reuters reports.
- "We can see that hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands of people are infected in several major cities," Zhong Nanshan, a Chinese epidemiologist, told state media, per Reuters.
- Officials last week urged a "full mobilization" of hospitals and bolstered their staffing, AP reports from state media.
- Officials at the Cabinet meeting last week were also told to monitor the health of individuals 65 and older.
The big picture: The surge in cases comes after China began paring down its strict "zero COVID" policy last week following nationwide protests.
- Under the new guidelines, lockdown requirements were reduced and rules for isolating at state quarantine centers were rolled back, among other measures.
- Beijing last week also eliminated regular mandatory testing, so the official tally of cases is not clear.
- The largest protests since Tiananmen in 1989 erupted nationwide last month in response to pandemic policies.
Go deeper ... China's COVID storm