China suspends social media accounts of Covid policy critics

China has suspended or closed the social media accounts of more than 1000 critics of the governments policies on the COVID19 outbreak as the country moves to further open upThe popular Sina Weibo social media platform said it had addressed 12854 violations including attacks on experts scholars and medical workers and issued temporary or permanent bans on 1120 accountsThe ruling Communist Party had largely relied on the medical community to justify its harsh lockdowns quarantine measures and mass testing almost all of which it abruptly abandoned last month leading to a surge in new cases that have stretched medical resources to their limitsThe party allows no direct criticism and imposes strict limits on free speech The company iquestwill continue to increase the investigation and cleanup of all kinds of illegal content and create a harmonious and friendly community environment for the majority of users Sina Weibo said in a statement dated ThursdayCriticism has largely focused on openended travel restrictions that saw people confined to their homes for weeks sometimes without adequate food or medical careAlso Read Covid19 in China It is business as usual albeit with adherence to protocol say Indian studentsAnger was also vented over the requirement that anyone who potentially tested positive or had been in contact with such a person be confined for observation in a field hospital where overcrowding poor food and hygiene were commonly citedThe social and economic costs eventually prompted rare street protests in Beijing and other cities possibly influencing the partys decision to swiftly ease the strictest measuresChina is now facing a surge in cases and hospitalisations in major cities and is bracing for a further spread into less developed areas with the start of the Lunar New Year travel rush set to get underway in coming daysWhile international flights are still reduced authorities say they expect domestic rail and air journeys will double over the same period last year bringing overall numbers close to those of the 2019 holiday period before the pandemic hitThe Transportation Ministry on Friday called on travellers to reduce trips and gatherings particularly if they involve elderly people pregnant women small children and those with underlying conditionsPeople using public transport are also urged to wear masks and pay special attention to their health and personal hygiene Vice Minister Xu Chengguang told reporters at a briefingNonetheless China is forging ahead with a plan to end mandatory quarantines for people arriving from abroad beginning on SundayBeijing also plans to drop a requirement for students at city schools to have a negative COVID19 test to enter campus when classes resume February 13 after the holiday breakWhile schools will be allowed to move classes online in the event of new outbreaks they must return to inperson instruction as soon as possible the city education bureau said in a statement on FridayHowever the end to mass testing a highly limited amount of basic data such as the number of deaths infections and severe cases and the potential emergence of new variants have prompted governments elsewhere to institute virus testing requirements for travelers from ChinaThe World Health Organisation has also expressed concern about the lack of data from China while the US is requiring a negative test result for travelers from China within 48 hours of departureChinese health authorities publish a daily count of new cases severe cases and deaths but those numbers include only officially confirmed cases and use a very narrow definition of COVIDrelated deathsAuthorities say that since the government ended compulsory testing and permitted people with mild symptoms to test themselves and convalesce at home it can no longer provide a full picture of the state of the latest outbreakOn Sunday the National Health Commission reported 10681 new domestic cases bringing the countrys total number of confirmed cases to 482057Three new deaths were also reported over the previous 24 hours bringing the total to 5267The numbers are a fraction of those announced by the US which has put its death toll at more than 1 million among some 101 million casesBut theyre also much smaller than the estimates being released by some local governments Zhejiang a province on the east coast said Tuesday it was seeing about 1 million new cases a dayChina has said the testing requirements being imposed by foreign governments iquest most recently Germany and Sweden iquest arent sciencebased and has threatened unspecified countermeasuresIts spokespeople have said the situation is under control and reject accusations of a lack of preparation for reopeningIf a variant emerges in an outbreak it is found through genetic sequencing of the virusSince the pandemic started China has shared 4144 sequences with GISAID a global platform for coronavirus data Thats only 004 per cent of its reported number of cases iquest a rate more than 100 times less than the United States and nearly four times less than neighboring MongoliaMeanwhile Hong Kong also plans to reopen some of its border crossings with mainland China on Sunday and allow tens of thousands of people to cross every day without being quarantinedThe semiautonomous southern Chinese city has been hardhit by the virus and its land and sea border checkpoints with the mainland have been largely closed for almost three yearsDespite the risk the reopening is expected to provide a muchneeded boost to Hong Kongs tourism and retail sectorsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever