Beds run out at Beijing hospital as COVID brings more sick
Beijing(AP): Patients, most of them elderly, are lying on stretchers in hallways and taking oxygen while sitting in wheelchairs as COVID-19 surges in China's capital Beijing.
The Chuiyangliu hospital in the city's east was packed with newly arrived patients on Thursday. By mid-morning beds had run out, even as ambulances continued to bring those in need.
Hard-pressed nurses and doctors rushed to take information and triage the most urgent cases.
The surge in severely ill people needing hospital care follows China abandonment of its most severe pandemic restrictions last month after nearly three years of lockdowns, travels bans and school closures that weighed heavily on the economy and prompted street protests not seen since the late 1980s.
It also comes as the the European Union on Wednesday "strongly encouraged" its member states to impose pre-departure COVID-19 testing of passengers from China.
Over the past week, EU nations have reacted with a variety of restrictions toward travelers from China, disregarding an earlier commitment to act in unity.
Italy where the pandemic first exacted a heavy toll in Europe in early 2020 was the first EU member to require coronavirus tests for airline passengers coming from China, but France and Spain quickly followed with their own measures.
That followed the imposition by the US of a requirement that all passengers from China show a negative test result obtained in the previous 48 hours before departure. China has warned of "countermeasures" if such policies were to be imposed across the bloc.
Still, World Health Organisation head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday he was concerned about the lack of outbreak data from the Chinese government.
At a daily briefing on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing has consistently "shared information and data with the international community in an open and transparent manner."
"At present, China's COVID-19 situation is under control," Mao said. "Also, we hope that the WHO secretariat will take a science-based, objective and impartial position to play a positive role in addressing the pandemic globally."
The terse language between China and the WHO contrasts sharply with what critics in the US Congress and elsewhere called an overly friendly relationship between the two as the UN organisation sought to probe the origins of the pandemic.
While the first cases were reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, China has claimed the virus originated in the US or Europe and has been accused of withholding data that could help narrow the search for the cause.
In dealing with the latest outbreak, China has sought to get more of its elderly population vaccinated, but those efforts have been hampered by past scandals involving fake medications and previous warnings about adverse reactions to the vaccines among older people.
China's domestically developed vaccines are also considered less effective than the mRNA jabs used elsewhere.
Meanwhile, local authorities in some areas are appealing to the public to avoid traveling during this month's Lunar New Year holiday, as the last formal restrictions on movement are lifted.
"We recommend that everyone not return to their hometowns unless necessary during the peak of the outbreak," the government of Shaoyang county in Hunan province in central China said in a notice dated Thursday.
"Avoid visiting relatives and traveling between regions. Minimize travel."
Similar appeals were issued by Shouxian county in Anhui province southeast of Beijing and the cities of Qingyang in Gansu province in the northwest and Weifang in Shandong on the east coast.
The Weifang government notice said residents should celebrate the holiday with video and phone gatherings.
"Avoid visiting relatives and friends to protect yourself and others," it said.
Despite such concerns, Hong Kong announced it will reopen its border with mainland China on Sunday and allow tens of thousands of people to cross from each side every day without being quarantined.
It was unclear what restrictions people travelling to the mainland side would face.
The city's land and sea border checkpoints with the mainland have been largely closed for almost three years and the reopening is expected to provide a much-needed boost to Hong Kong's tourism and retail sectors.
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Lakshya stuns Li Shi to enter All England semifinals
Birmingham (PTI): Lakshya Sen continued his dream run and kept India's hopes afloat at the All England Open, stunning China's world No. 6 Li Shi Feng in straight games to storm into the semifinals here.
The world No. 12 Indian, who was a finalist here in 2022, ousted Li 21-13, 21-16 in the men’s singles quarterfinal that lasted an hour at the Utilita Arena on Friday.
The win also served as a sweet revenge for Lakshya, who had lost to the same opponent at the quarterfinal stage of the 2025 edition.
Lakshya dominated the opening game and built a comfortable lead before Li attempted a comeback midway through.
The Indian, however, stepped up his attack to close out the game convincingly.
The second game saw a closer contest with both the players trading points in the early exchanges.
Lakshya held a slender lead at the mid-game interval and then pulled away in the closing stages to seal the match.
The victory also improved Lakshya's head-to-head record against Li Shi Feng to eight wins in 15 matches.
Lakshya, the top-ranked Indian badminton player who also made the semifinals here in 2024, is now the only Indian left in the fray this year.
He had earlier stunned world No. 1 and defending champion Shi Yuqi in the opening round.
He will face Canada’s world No. 16 Victor Lai in the semifinals.
The other Indian players were knocked out earlier in the week. The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost in the first round, while Malvika Bansod and Unnati Hooda also bowed out in the opening round of women’s singles.
Two-time Olympian PV Sindhu had withdrawn from the tournament after failing to reach Birmingham in time due to travel disruptions in the Middle East, while the mixed doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila retired from their match on Thursday.
