Ailia, 56, said that she, like countless Chinese, had supported reopening the economy. Her father died in late December, weeks after China dropped its COVID restrictions.
Among those fatalities, 90% were 65 or older and the average age was 80.3 years, a Chinese official said on Saturday. A Chinese official said on Jan. 6 that more than 90% of people above aged 60 had been vaccinated, but the share of those over age 80 who had received booster shots was only 40% as of Nov. 28, the most recent date for which that data was available.“If only they used the resources used for controlling the virus for protecting the elderly,” said Ailia, who like many people interviewed declined to use their full name given the sensitivity of criticizing China’s government.
Several analysts said China’s handling of COVID had eroded confidence in the government, especially among upper-middle class urbanites, but they did not see it as a threat to the rule of President Xi Jinping or the Communist Party.Lila Hong, 33, who works in marketing for a carmaker, was in Wuhan at the start of the pandemic there three years ago.
“I’m not saying reopening is not good,” said Hong. “I just think they should have given more time for preparatory work.” “People haven’t had the opportunity to say farewell to their loved ones. If we cannot live a decent life, we should at least be able to have a decent death,” he said.Of seven grieving relatives Reuters spoke to for this article, all but one said COVID was left off the death certificates of their loved ones, even though they believe it was a key trigger for their deaths.