Covid Highlights: Chinese Prez Xi Jinping says COVID control entering new phase

Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Saturday for more effort and unity as the country enters a "new phase" in its approach to combating the pandemic, in his first comments to the public on COVID-19 since his government changed course three weeks ago and relaxed its rigorous policy of lockdowns and mass testing.

China's abrupt switch earlier this month from the "zero-COVID" policy that it had maintained for nearly three years has led to infections sweeping across the country unchecked. It has also caused a further drop in economic activity and international concern, with Britain and France becoming the latest countries to impose curbs on travellers from China, reported Reuters. 

Uttar Pradesh forest Minister Dr. Arun Kumar reached Bareilly's Covid hospital on Saturday to take stock of the health department's preparations to tackle the upcoming expected wave of Covid-19.

Commenting on the preparations to tackle a new Covid surge, Dr Kumar said that the government is alert on the situation and fully prepared to tackle any situation, reported ANI. 

Revelers began gathering in major city centers across the Asia-Pacific region to celebrate the first new year without COVID-19 restrictions since the pandemic began in 2020.

While COVID-19 continues to cause death and dismay, particularly in China, which is battling a nationwide surge in infections after suddenly easing anti-epidemic measures, authorities are now treating the virus as a threat people are living with, reported AP.

The sudden end of China's strict ‘Zero Covid’ policy has pushed the country's economic activity — its service sector in particular — to the slowest pace since February 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday. The official manufacturing purchasing managers index dropped to 47 this month from November’s 48, the report added.

Multiple content pertaining to criticisms by Chinese public of the country's ‘Zero Covid’ policy and the pandemic scenario altogether, including the challenges they faced trying to adhere to the stringent rules, have been censored by authorities. This outpouring of reflections online, some of it critical, occurred as New Year's Eve triggered reminiscing the year soon to be behind, Reuters reported.

Australia, which is one of the first countries - courtesy of being in Oceania, to welcome a new year every year, will celebrate its first Covid-restriction free New Year's Eve on Saturday. More than a million revellers are expected to celebrate the New Year's Eve in Sydney, which draws TV audiences around the world with public countdown and fireworks in display over its Opera House, Reuters reported. The past two New Year's Eve were celebrated with Covid-19 restrictions in place.

On 2022's last day, India logged 226 new Covid-19 cases, taking the active case count to 3,653, the Union health ministry's 8am bulletin update revealed. It was a marginal drop from Friday's figures when 243 people were found to be infected with the virus.

Despite a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases, China's manufacturing activity contracted sharply in December for the third month in a row, according to official figures released on Saturday. The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) - a primary gauge of manufacturing in the world's second-biggest economy - came in at 47 points, down from November's 48 and well beneath the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, AFP reported. Read more.

France and Great Britain on Friday became the latest countries to impose mandatory Covid-19 test on passengers from China in view of a fresh, deadly outbreak in the Asian nation.