There Is A Surge In Patients With Symptoms of COVID-19, Doctors And Nurses in China Are Overwhelmed

JAKARTA - The number of doctors and nurses in China who have contracted COVID-19 continues to grow, as people with symptoms are filling hospitals and clinics, according to medical staff and dozens of posts on social media.

The sudden easing of restrictions has sparked long queues outside fever clinics since last week, raising fears the wave of infections is rising, although the official tally of new cases has trended lower recently as authorities cut back on testing.

Health experts say China's sudden easing of strict COVID-19 rules is likely to trigger a spike in severe cases in the coming months. Meanwhile, hospitals in big cities are already showing signs of tension.

Some hospitals in Beijing have up to 80 percent of their staff infected, but many of them are still required to work due to staff shortages, a doctor at a major public hospital in Beijing told Reuters, as quoted on December 14, adding he had spoken to colleagues at other major hospitals.

All surgeries and surgeries have been canceled at his hospital except for the patient "die tomorrow", he said, declining to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject.

Chinese health authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the infection among medical staff.

Reuters was unable to immediately get verification from the hospital on wait times and bed utilization rates. But photos circulating on social media showed patients in Beijing and nearby Baoding waiting hours for treatment.

Health officials have recommended that people with mild COVID symptoms be quarantined at home, also saying most of the cases reported in the country have been mild or asymptomatic.

"Our hospital is overwhelmed with patients. There are 700, 800 people with fever coming every day", said a doctor surnamed Li at a tertiary hospital in Sichuan province.

"We are out of stock of cold and fever medicines, now waiting for delivery from our suppliers. Several nurses in the fever clinic tested positive, there are no special protective measures for the hospital staff and I believe many of us will be infected soon", Li added.

A nurse at another hospital in Chengdu said: "I was inundated with nearly 200 patients with COVID symptoms last night."

Wan Ling, a chief nurse at a hospital in Huashan in China's Anhui province, wrote on Weibo that many of her colleagues' infections were relatively serious and had high fevers.

Several doctors from Wuhan province's top public hospital, Tongji, have also tested positive for COVID-19, but since Sunday have not been allowed to take time off, a pharmaceutical sales representative with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters, declining to be named.

"They have to keep working while they are sick", said the person who visits the hospital regularly and spoke to his doctor recently.

Tongji hospital did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Separately, Ben Cowling, an epidemiologist at the University of Hong Kong, said insufficient medical resources to tackle excess COVID cases, contributed to a spike in deaths in Hong Kong when infections peaked there earlier this year, warning that the same could happen to China.

"One of the reasons we have such a high death rate (in Hong Kong), is because we don't have enough hospital resources to deal with the spike. And unfortunately, that's what's going to happen in about a month or two", Cowling said.

Meanwhile, state media Xinhua reported that 50 patients are currently in serious or critical condition in a hospital due to COVID in Beijing.