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As China moves away from zero-Covid, health experts warn of dark days ahead | CNN

Published

2 years ago

December 7, 2022

As China moves away from zero-Covid, health experts warn of dark days ahead | CNN

Editor’s Word: Editor’s Word: A model of this story appeared in CNN’s In the meantime in China e-newsletter, a three-times-a-week replace exploring what it’s essential know concerning the nation’s rise and the way it impacts the world. Join right here.

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China’s zero-Covid coverage, which stalled the world’s second-largest financial system and sparked a wave of unprecedented protests, is now being dismantled as Beijing on Wednesday launched sweeping revisions to its draconian measures that finally didn’t carry the virus to heel.

The brand new pointers preserve some restrictions in place however largely scrap the well being QR code that has been necessary for getting into most public locations and roll again mass testing. Additionally they permit some Covid-19 circumstances and shut contacts to skip centralized quarantine.

They arrive after numerous cities in current days began to carry a few of the harsh controls that dictated – and closely restricted – every day life for practically three years in China.

However whereas the modifications mark a major shift – and produce aid for a lot of within the public who’ve grown more and more pissed off with the excessive prices and calls for of zero-Covid – one other actuality can also be clear: China is underprepared for the surge in circumstances it may now see.

Specialists say although a lot remains to be unknown about how the following weeks and months will progress, China has fallen quick on preparations like bolstering the aged vaccination price, upping surge and intensive care capability in hospitals, and stockpiling antiviral drugs.

Whereas the Omicron variant is milder than earlier strains and China’s total vaccination price is excessive, even a small variety of extreme circumstances amongst susceptible and under-vaccinated teams just like the aged may overwhelm hospitals if infections spike throughout the nation of 1.4 billion, consultants say.

“It is a looming disaster – the timing is admittedly dangerous … China now has to calm down a lot of its measures in the course of the winter (overlapping with flu season), in order that was not as deliberate,” mentioned Xi Chen, an affiliate professor on the Yale Faculty of Public Well being in the USA, pointing to what was doubtless an acceleration in China’s transition, triggered by public discontent.

The rules launched Wednesday open up a brand new chapter within the nation’s epidemic management, three years after circumstances of Covid-19 had been first detected in central China’s Wuhan and following protests towards the zero-Covid coverage throughout the nation late final month.

The place China as soon as managed circumstances by requiring testing and clear well being codes for entry into most public locations and for home journey, these codes will not be checked aside from in a handful of places like medical establishments and faculties. Mass testing will now be rolled again for everybody aside from these in high-risk areas and high-risk positions. Individuals who check constructive for Covid-19 however have delicate or asymptomatic circumstances and meet sure circumstances can quarantine at residence, as a substitute of being pressured to go to centralized quarantine facilities, as can shut contacts.

Places labeled by authorities as “excessive danger” can nonetheless be locked down, however these lockdowns should now be extra restricted and exact, in accordance with the brand new pointers, which had been circulated by China’s state media.

The modifications mark a swift about-face, following mounting public discontent, financial prices and file case numbers in current weeks. They arrive after a prime official final week first signaled the nation may transfer away from the zero-Covid coverage it had lengthy poured important sources into – although one other official on Wednesday mentioned the measures had been a “proactive optimization,” not “reactive,” when requested in a press briefing.

“China has pursued this coverage for thus lengthy, they’re now between a rock and a tough place,” mentioned William Schaffner, a professor of infectious ailments on the Vanderbilt College Medical Heart within the US. “They don’t have good choices in both route anymore. That they had actually hoped that this epidemic globally would run its course, and so they may survive with out influence. And that hasn’t occurred.”

As restrictions are relaxed, and the virus spreads throughout the nation, China is “going to need to undergo a interval of ache when it comes to sickness, critical sickness, deaths and stress on the well being care system” as was seen elsewhere on the earth earlier within the pandemic, he added.

Because the world vaccination marketing campaign and the emergence of the Omicron variant, well being consultants have questioned China’s adherence to zero-Covid and identified the unsustainability of the technique, which tried to make use of mass testing and surveillance, lockdowns and quarantines to cease a extremely contagious virus.

However as some restrictions are lifted, in what seems to be a haphazard transition following years of deal with meticulously controlling the virus, consultants say change could also be coming earlier than China has made the preparations its well being officers have admitted are wanted.

“An uncontrolled epidemic (one which solely peaks when the virus begins operating out of individuals to contaminate) … will pose critical challenges to the well being care system, not solely when it comes to managing the small fraction of Covid circumstances which are extreme, but in addition within the ‘collateral harm’ to folks with different well being circumstances who’ve delayed care as a consequence,” mentioned Ben Cowling, a professor of epidemiology on the College of Hong Kong.

However even with easing restrictions, Cowling mentioned, it was “troublesome to foretell” how rapidly infections will unfold although China, as a result of there are nonetheless some measures in place and a few folks will change their conduct – resembling staying at residence extra typically.

“And I wouldn’t rule out the likelihood that stricter measures are reintroduced to fight rising circumstances,” he mentioned.

Specialists agree that permitting the virus to unfold nationally can be a major shift for a rustic that up till this level has formally reported 5,235 Covid-19 deaths since early 2020 – a relatively low determine globally that has been some extent of satisfaction in China, the place state media till not too long ago trumpeted the hazards of the virus to the general public.

Modeling from researchers at Shanghai’s Fudan College printed within the journal Nature Medication in Might projected that greater than 1.5 million Chinese language may die inside six months if Covid-19 restrictions had been lifted and there was no entry to antiviral medication, which have been accepted in China.

Nevertheless, loss of life charges may fall to across the ranges of seasonal flu, if nearly all aged folks had been vaccinated and antiviral drugs had been broadly used, the authors mentioned.

Final month, China launched an inventory of measures to bolster well being programs towards Covid-19, which included directives to extend vaccination within the aged, stockpile antiviral remedies and medical gear, and develop crucial care capability – efforts that consultants say take time and are finest completed previous to an outbreak.

“(Is China ready?) For those who have a look at surge capability three years on and the stockpiling of efficient antivirals – no. For those who speak concerning the triage procedures – they aren’t strictly enforced – and when you speak concerning the vaccination price for the aged, particularly these aged 80 and older, additionally it is total no,” mentioned Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for world well being on the Council on Overseas Relations in New York.

Chinese language authorities, he added, would doubtless be intently assessing outcomes just like the loss of life price to resolve coverage steps going ahead.

Citizens wearing masks board a subway train on Monday in Henan province's Zhengzhou, where negative Covid-19 test results are no longer required for riding public transport.

The US has not less than 25 crucial care beds per 100,000 folks, in accordance with the Group for Financial Co-operation and Improvement – in contrast, China has fewer than 4 for a similar quantity, well being authorities there mentioned final month.

The system additionally supplies restricted major care, which may drive even reasonably sick folks to hospitals versus calling a household physician – placing extra pressure on hospitals, in accordance with Yale’s Chen.

In the meantime, weak medical infrastructure in rural areas may foster crises there, particularly as testing is diminished and youthful folks residing in cities return to rural hometowns to go to aged relations over the Lunar New Yr subsequent month, he mentioned.

Whereas China’s total vaccination price is excessive, its aged are additionally much less protected than in another elements of the world, the place the oldest and most susceptible to dying from Covid-19 had been prioritized for vaccination. Some international locations have already rolled out fourth or fifth doses for at-risk teams.

By China’s accounting, greater than 86% of its inhabitants over 60 are totally vaccinated, in accordance with China’s Nationwide Well being Fee, and booster charges are decrease, with greater than 45 million of the totally vaccinated aged but to obtain an extra shot. Round 25 million aged haven’t acquired any shot, in accordance with a comparability of official inhabitants figures and November 28 vaccination information.

For essentially the most at-risk over 80 age group, round two-thirds had been totally vaccinated by China’s requirements, however solely 40% had acquired booster photographs as of November 11, in accordance with state media.

However whereas China refers to 3rd doses for its broadly used inactivated vaccines as booster photographs, a World Well being Group vaccine advisory group final 12 months advisable that aged folks taking these vaccines obtain three doses of their preliminary course to make sure adequate safety.

The inactivated vaccines utilized in China have been discovered to elicit decrease ranges of antibody response as in comparison with others used abroad, and lots of international locations utilizing the doses have paired them with extra protecting mRNA vaccines, which China has not accepted to be used.

Cowling mentioned proof from Hong Kong’s outbreak, nonetheless, confirmed China’s inactivated vaccine used within the metropolis labored properly to forestall extreme illness, however it was crucial that the aged obtain three doses within the preliminary course, as advisable by the World Well being Group. They need to then use a fourth dose on prime of that to maintain immunity excessive, he added.

Prime well being officers on November 28 introduced a brand new plan to bolster aged vaccination charges, however such measures will take time, as will different preparations for a surge.

Minimizing the worst outcomes in a transition out of zero-Covid will depend on that preparation, in accordance with Cowling. From that perspective, he mentioned, “it doesn’t appear to be it will be an excellent time to calm down the insurance policies.”

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News

Trump tariffs are proving ‘big headache’ for tech giants, says Foxconn

Published

40 minutes ago

March 14, 2025

Press Room

Trump tariffs are proving ‘big headache’ for tech giants, says Foxconn

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The US government’s tariff announcements have become a “big headache” for technology companies such as iPhone maker Apple and cloud service provider Amazon, their manufacturing partner Foxconn said on Friday, in a rare public admission of the disruption caused by President Donald Trump’s erratic trade policy.

“The issue of tariffs is something that is giving the CEOs of our customers a big headache now,” chief executive Young Liu told investors on an earnings call. “Judging by the attitude and the approach we see the US government taking towards tariffs, it is very, very hard to predict how things will develop over the next year. So we can only concentrate on doing well what we can control.”

Liu said the company’s customers were “one after another” hatching plans for co-operating with Foxconn on manufacturing in the US. He declined to give details as those plans were not yet finalised, but said there should be “more and more” manufacturing in the US.

The world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer assembles the vast majority of the world’s iPhones for Apple and also makes a broad range of other electronics products, including laptops, servers, robots, medical equipment and electric vehicles.

Foxconn itself is affected by Washington’s attempts to force more manufacturing to move onshore. The lion’s share of its manufacturing capacity is in China — recently hit by an additional 10 per cent US tariff — India and Vietnam, which are both likely targets for Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs. Foxconn is also building what it said last October would be the world’s largest factory for Nvidia Blackwell servers in Mexico, where Trump has slapped a 25 per cent tariff on its exports to the US.

Foxconn forecast its information and communication products business, dominated by its contract work for Apple, would be stable this year. “But under the uncertainties related to geopolitics and tariffs, manufacturing will face challenges and demand might also suffer,” Liu said, adding that the company would work closely with customers to adjust its global footprint.

But the Taiwanese group gave a bullish outlook for AI servers. The company’s server assembly revenue increased 78 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared with the same period a year earlier, and it said it expected the AI server business to more than double in the current quarter.

Liu said he did not share concerns that cloud service providers might cut spending this year. He said the success of Chinese AI company DeepSeek in developing a large language model with smaller hardware investment was likely to encourage larger numbers of medium-sized companies to develop their own LLMs, further boosting server demand.

Driven by that strong growth, cloud and networking products would account for half the company’s revenue this year, overtaking the consumer electronics business, which has long weighed on Foxconn’s margins with its low-margin smartphone assembly operations.

Foxconn reported a surprise 13 per cent year-on-year drop in net profit for the fourth quarter. Net earnings slid to NT$46.3bn (US$1.4bn) in the three months to the end of December, but the decrease was due to a drop in non-operating income, while operating profit increased by 32 per cent.

News

Judges threatened with impeachment, bombs for ruling against Trump agenda

Published

1 hour ago

March 14, 2025

Press Room

Judges threatened with impeachment, bombs for ruling against Trump agenda

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy listen as President Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 4.

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Federal judges who have ruled against the Trump administration this year are confronting a wave of threats, potentially compromising their personal safety and the independence of the judiciary.

The sister of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett received a bomb threat earlier this month, and lower court judges who hit pause on some of President Trump’s efforts to dismantle federal agencies and programs have been singled out on social media.

Republican lawmakers close to the president even have proposed impeachment proceedings against a few of those judges, who serve for life.

Elon Musk, who oversees the Department of Government Efficiency making cuts to federal agencies, himself has repeatedly posted on social media about impeaching judges who delay or block parts of Trump’s agenda.

Efforts to undermine the judiciary come at the same time the Trump administration has moved to fire lawyers inside the Justice Department and the Pentagon, penalize private law firms who represented clients Trump does not like, and to back away from participation in the activities of the American Bar Association.

President Trump signed an executive order banning the government from hiring a law firm that represented Hillary Clinton's campaign in the 2016 presidential race.

Judge Richard Sullivan, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, said in his lifetime four federal judges have been killed in retaliation for their work on the bench.

“This is not hypothetical,” Sullivan, who leads a Judicial Conference panel on security issues, told reporters in a news conference this week. The Judicial Conference is a representative body of federal judges that frames policies for courts. “It’s real. It’s happened before. We have to be certain that it doesn’t happen again,” he said.

The Federal Judges Association, a voluntary group of more than 1,000 judges across the nation, said judiciary plays a “critical role in preserving democracy and a law-abiding society.”

“Judges must be able to do their jobs without fear of violence or undue influence,” the group said in a written statement to NPR.

An illustration of a woman is hunched over behind a giant gavel as a judge looms in the background.

Early threats

One thing stands out to legal experts: these attacks on judges are coming at a very early stage in the legal process — often, before the Supreme Court weighs in as the final decider.

“We have a system of justice that allows for appeals,” Judge Jeffrey Sutton, chief judge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, told reporters this week. “That’s typically the way it works. Impeachment is not and shouldn’t be a short-circuiting of that process. And so it is concerning if impeachment is used in a way that is designed to do just that.”

Only 15 federal judges have faced impeachment, mostly for allegations of wrongdoing such as bribery, corruption, or perjury, in the past couple of centuries.

Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at Georgetown University, said the odds of a successful judicial impeachment are pretty low, and to remove a judge from the bench would require a two-thirds vote from the Senate.

“The more that people like Elon Musk are putting on the wall the idea that it’s appropriate to attack these judges for nothing more than ruling against the federal government, the more that we’re normalizing what really are in the main very serious threats to judicial independence,” Vladeck said.

The Department of Justice stands in the early morning hours in 2019 in Washington, D.C.

“Jeopardize the Rule of Law”

But Paul Grimm, who spent 26 years as a federal judge, said even the threat of impeachment can amount to intimidation.

“And if you try to intimidate judges, if that’s your goal, so that they do not do their constitutional duty, then you jeopardize the rule of law,” said Grimm, who leads the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke Law School. “And without the rule of law, every liberty and every right that we cherish as Americans is vulnerable.”

Grimm said he worries a lot about online posts that display the home and work addresses of judges and their adult children, a step that he said “crosses the line.”

Nearly five years ago, an angry litigant shot and killed the son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas in New Jersey.

And in 2023, a state court judge in Maryland was gunned down in his driveway.

Attacks over rulings

The U.S. Marshals say threats against federal judges have doubled in recent years, according to the most recent data. And those threats have been directed at both Democrat and Republican judges.

Justice Barrett came under withering criticism this month from some right-wing political commentators, after she voted alongside Chief Justice John Roberts and the liberals on the high court against Trump’s effort to freeze foreign aid.

Lower court judges have faced online attacks for their early rulings on Musk’s DOGE team, efforts to restore government web pages, and the freeze on foreign aid.

The Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.

The Marshals protect judges, but they also report to the U.S. Attorney General, not to the courts themselves. That’s got some members of Congress on alert.

“A judge’s security is dependent in many ways on the Marshals Service who the president appoints to protect the judges, and if a president doesn’t like a decision that’s coming from a judge, theoretically they could pull their security,” Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, said at a congressional hearing this month.

The administration has already yanked protection this year from former military and national security officials who disagreed with Trump in his first term.

Swalwell said Congress should consider giving judges their own security force — one that’s independent from the White House.