China rushed to install hospital beds across cities and build fever screening clinics amid a surge in covid cases in the country. Now, as the virus sweeps through a country of 1.4 billion people who lack natural immunity having been shielded for so long, there is growing concern about possible deaths, virus mutations and the impact, again, on the economy. United States said Beijing's surprise decision to let coronavirus run free was a concern for the world. “We know that any time the virus is spreading, that it is in the wild, that it has the potential to mutate and to pose a threat to people everywhere. We’ve seen that over the course of many different permutations of this virus and certainly another reason why we are so focused on helping countries around the world address COVID, another reason why bringing this to a close in China would be beneficial," said US State Department spokesperson Ned Price. “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. It’s not only good for China to be in a stronger position vis-à-vis COVID, but it’s good for the rest of the world as well. We – the United States continues to be a leading force for countries around the world in the provision of vaccines and helping countries overcome the acute phase of the virus. We certainly hope that will be the case before long in the PRC as well," he added. China this month abruptly began dismantling its stringent "zero-COVID" regime of mass lockdowns after protests against curbs that had largely kept the virus at bay for three years. Beijing reported five COVID-related deaths on Tuesday, following two on Monday which were the first fatalities reported in weeks. In total, China has reported just 5,242 COVID deaths since the pandemic erupted in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019, an extremely low toll by global standards. But there are rising doubts that thee statistics are capturing the full impact a disease ripping through cities after China dropped curbs including most mandatory testing on Dec. 7. Since then, some hospitals have become inundated, pharmacies emptied of medicines and streets have been unusually quiet as residents stay home, either sick or wary of catching the disease.
