(Minghui.org) The coronavirus, also known as the CCP virus (after the Chinese Communist Party), continues to ravage China. Hospitals are packed with COVID patients and funeral homes are overwhelmed with bodies.
Large Number of Deaths Including High-ranking Officials
One taxi driver in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, said on January 1, 2023, that many people died of COVID in December. “The Eighth Hospital of Tiexi District in Shenyang had no more room to store the bodies so it set up a large tent outdoors and piled bodies up there. It’s so scary!” he wrote.
One teacher in Shenyang said in late December that, after a student’s parent died of COVID, their family is still waiting for the local funeral home to come pick up the body at the time of writing, as there were over 700 families ahead of them in the queue.
On the “Remains pick-up service dispatch list” on December 26 from a funeral home in Beijing, the number of deaths for the day had already reached 917. The funeral home didn’t have enough vehicles and manpower to pick up bodies as scheduled. The death causes listed were mostly lung infection, respiratory failure, sudden death, and pneumonia. It was said to avoid “COVID” as a death cause. There are over 10 funeral homes in Beijing in total.
A large number of high-ranking officials have died in December 2022, including:
* General Li Jing, the former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the CCP, died at Beijing 301 Hospital on December 30.
* Wang Xinlan, the wife of the late CCP general Xiao Hua and former Deputy Political Commissar of the Logistics Department of the Lanzhou Military Region, died on December 30.
* Jian Xianfo, Former Deputy Minister of the Power Industry Ministry, died in Beijing on the night of December 30 due to a lung infection.
* Chen Guizun, the former Vice-Governor of Jiangxi Province, died of illness on December 29.
* Diao Jinxiang, the former Vice Governor of Sichuan Province, died on December 11.
* Li Junlong, a Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Committee in the Second Department of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, was infected with the new COVID and died in his 50s.
* Dong Yuming, a professor at the School of Pharmacy of Lanzhou University in Gansu, died at 51 on December 19.
* According to the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong on December 30, Zheng Kunsheng, the former Deputy Director of the Hong Kong branch of the CCP’s Xinhua News Agency and Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong, had died.
* Officials who died in the CCP military included Zhou Cun (former dean of the CCP Army Command Academy), Li Tongmao (former Political Commissar of the Second Artillery Corps), and Sun Yong (former secretary of the Security Bureau of the CCP General Staff), and others.
Rising ER Visits and More Severely Ill Patients
Tencent.com reported on January 2 that the number of emergency visits and the number of severely ill patients have both been increasing lately. Take the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University for example. It has used all resources and treated over 6,000 patients since December 7, 2022. Among them, 49.72% (or 3,012) were in severe or critical condition.
Taiyuan Daily also reported that the number of daily visits to the emergency rooms at the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University continued to increase from mid-December, reaching 407 on December 24 with critically ill patients accounting for about 70% of the visits. Many medical staff in the emergency medical centre could not return home and stayed in the hospital 24 hours a day. Head nurse Zhang had not been back home for two consecutive weeks. Her parents and child had a fever, but she could not take care of them.
The CCP’s High-Level Internal Document: Getting As Many People Infected As Soon As Possible
According to information obtained by The Epoch Times, an internal document from the CCP senior leadership required all provinces to “get as many people infected as soon as possible” before the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in early March 2023. This would help the COVID outbreak to peak soon and achieve total herd immunity in two months. Society would in turn resume normal manufacturing and other operations, which would then help maintain “stability.”
Because of this internal document, government agencies and businesses across China require those who tested positive to still report to work. Those who ask for sick leave will have their pay deducted.
One government official in Shanghai told The Epoch Times on December 27 that the number of infections is extremely high in Shanghai. “But the [CCP’s] Central Inspection Team still criticized Shanghai for opening up too slow,” he said. “Some reported that a lot of people have died, but higher-ups want ‘whoever destined to get infected to get infected quickly and whoever destined to die to die soon.’”
COVID Not Allowed to Be the Death Cause
One parent of the above-mentioned official’s friend was in a coma with a fever two days before. Imaging showed large white areas in the lungs and the patient died later. “The death Certificate listed other illnesses as causes of death, since the doctor said COVID death as a cause needs approval from Health Commission’s approval,” he continued. “My friend was also told that non-COVID deaths as documented on the death certificates would make cremation quicker.”
One reader wrote to Minghui.org that, after an elderly man in his 70s died in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, local officials told the family the death cause could not be fever; otherwise, the paperwork would not be processed. The family had no choice but to list diabetes as the death cause.
Wuhan City also has new cremation policies recently. For example, bodies cannot be sent to a different district in the city for cremation and family members are not allowed to stay at crematories. Rather, they have to pick up urns after 28 hours. Media reports showed that Wuhan Union Hospital already treated 16,000 COVID patients. One third of them were severely or critically ill.
Across China there were many patients with white lungs, which quickly led to their deaths. A large portion were people in their prime of life. One doctor told NTD Television that he had seen over 40 critically ill patients. “About half of them have white lungs. It is not just the elderly – some of them in their 20s or 40s,” he said. “I am kind of in a panic. What’s going on now?”
A young man in Anhui Province died recently. When interviewed by The Epoch Times on January 2, his father, Li Bing, said it was less than one week from his son’s infection to death. The local crematory was full of corpses on the floor, but officials discouraged listing COVID as the cause of death.
When receiving a receipt from the crematory, Li saw a list of the dead on a computer with ages ranging from 16 to 70. Many people were between 35 and 50. Almost all of them had death cause listed as “lung infection” and none of them was COVID. While Li’s son’s cause of death was indeed listed as COVID, he said he was warned not to discuss details of the death with the media.
Crowded Emergency Rooms and Crematories
Hu Peng, a resident in Tianjin, lost his father recently right before the New Year. Almost 90, the old man was infected with COVID and his breathing difficulty caused heart and lung failure.
When interviewed by RFA, Hu said he called 120 (medical emergency) and was told there were 90 callers before him. When asked which hospital he wanted to send his father to, Hu asked for The Second Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin Medical University.
“Don’t even think about it,” the operator said. “There is a long line even for you to get in the hospital entrance.”
The operator suggested Tianjin Hospital, and Hu doubted if it was the right place since the hospital specialises in orthopedics.
“But at least you can get in the emergency room there,” explained the coordinator. Hu had no choice but agreed.
After getting there, Hu found the emergency room fully packed. “Many patients were in the hallway too, all lying there [due to illness,]” he said. “ICU is very tight and no way to be admitted there.” Four people died in the emergency room that day, all above 80. “Doctors there told me they are orthopedists, but they were called in to help with the emergency room,” Hu said. “It is indeed difficult!”
Transporting his father’s body from the hospital to the local crematory was another daunting task. Had he not had connection, he would not have been able to make cremation arrangements in a short time. “There were people everywhere in the crematory too. We were told the facility used to burn about 40 bodies a day, but now it is 240. We were told larger crematories could burn 500 to 600 bodies a day,” Hu said.
While mourning his father, Hu also had questions for the authorities, “After three-year-long zero-COVID, we now have nothing – no antigen kits, no fever medicine. Some of us went to Beijing and there is nothing there either. In the past three years, officials hired many Big White agents (prevention workers in white one-piece protective gear), built many Fangcang (makeshift) hospitals, and enforced COVID restrictions for all – but all these resources were wasted. Now, we ordinary citizens are left to fend for ourselves. It would have be much better to [end the zero-COVID policy and] open up either in the past summer or the next summer [when transmission of infectious diseases is less prevalent than in the winter time]. The elderly easily get sick in the winter. Aren’t they in real danger?!”
More Countries Impose Curbs on Chinese Travelers
The Canadian government announced on December 31 that passengers flying from China to Canada must provide evidence of negative COVID testing result obtained within 48 hours of landing. Vancouver International Airport said it is working with Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) on wastewater testing to track COVID and the waste water testing at Toronto airport would also be expanded.
Australia announced on January 1 that beginning January 5 travelers from China must provide evidence of negative COVID test result obtained within 48 hours. Belgium has also planned waste water testing for flights from China. Furthermore, European Union officials are discussing next step on January 4.
As part of the zero-COVID policy, the CCP had required repeated testing and long-term quarantine for inbound travelers. It even refused to issue visas for overseas Chinese after their loved ones died in China. Nonetheless, Mao Ning, spokesperson for Ministry of Foreign Affairs, complained about other countries curbs on Chinese travelers.
In the mean time, human rights organisation Civil Rights & Livelihood Watch reported on January 1 that Guangzhou Baiyun Airport in Guangdong Province were still imposing the 5 + 3 quarantine policy (5 days of quarantine at a centralised location, and 3 days at home) on inbound travelers on December 30, 2022.
Some travelers, including students, argued with the police. Some students who attempted to walk out of the airport were beaten. Even students with death certificates for their family members in China were not allowed to leave the airport. Many travelers were taken by large buses on the same day for quarantine.
Chinese version available
(Clearwisdom)