Published4 hours agoSharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, ReutersBy Yvette TanBBC News People in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou have clashed with police overnight in the latest protest against the country’s strict Covid rules.Footage online showed police in white hazmat suits clutching riot shields to protect themselves from debris and glass thrown at them by protesters.Another video showed people being taken away in handcuffs.On Wednesday city officials said Covid restrictions would be relaxed in several districts.China has seen record numbers of new cases in recent days.According to posts on social media, the protests took place late on Tuesday and into the early hours of Wednesday in the district of Haizhu.One Guangzhou resident told news agency AFP that he saw around 100 police officers converge on Houjiao village in Haizhu and arrest at least three men. Haizhu was also the scene of angry Covid protests earlier this month.A quick guide to China’s white paper protestsThe latest unrest follows a wave of protest in China over the weekend, triggered by a fire in a high-rise block in the western Xinjiang region that killed 10 people on Thursday. Many Chinese believe long-running Covid restrictions in the city contributed to the deaths, although the authorities deny this.That prompted people in Shanghai and Beijing and other big cities to take to the streets, demanding an end to strict Covid measures – with some also calling for President Xi Jinping to stand down. Those protests later ebbed amid heavy a heavy police presence where demonstrations had taken place. This video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.The country’s top security agency has since called for a crackdown on “hostile forces” and there have been reports of police contacting protesters, demanding information about where they had been. On Tuesday health officials were asked if there were any plans to relax Covid measures in light of the protests – one official said China would “fine tune and modify” measures to control the “negative impact to people’s livelihoods and lives”.China’s fury and fear of Covid puts Xi in a bindBlank paper becomes the symbol of China’s protestsChina remains the only major economy with a strict zero-Covid policy, with local authorities clamping down on even small outbreaks with mass testing, quarantines and snap lockdowns.While China developed its own Covid vaccines, they are not as good as the mRNA technology – such as the Pfizer and Moderna shots – used elsewhere.Two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine gives 90% protection against severe disease or death versus 70% with China’s Sinovac.The vaccines have also not been given to enough people. Far too few of the elderly – who are most likely to die from Covid – have been immunised.There is also very little “natural immunity” from people surviving infections as a consequence of stopping the virus in its tracks.It means new variants spread far more quickly than the virus that emerged three years ago and there is a constant risk of it being imported from countries that are letting the virus spread.More on this storyA quick guide to China’s white paper protests1 day agoChina’s fury and fear of Covid puts Xi in a bind2 days agoBlank paper becomes the symbol of China’s protests2 days ago

SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesAfter years of deliberation, Singapore announced last month that it would lift a ban on single women who wanted to freeze their eggs for non-medical reasons. But while many have welcomed the measures, others say caveats still required for the procedure show Singapore still has some way to go before the policy can be considered truly inclusive. Gwendolyn Tan was 31 when she decided to get her eggs frozen. A single working woman, she’d always wanted to have her own biological children – but didn’t have a partner yet. The best possible solution for her was to freeze her eggs – to ensure meeting someone was not something she rushed into for the sake of having children. She hopped on a plane by herself and flew thousands of miles to the Thai capital of Bangkok, where the procedure was carried out. It was not cheap – Gwendolyn says she spent some S$15,000 (£8571; $10932) on the procedure. But for her and many women in Singapore who wanted to undergo egg-freezing – going overseas was the only option they had. Egg-freezing is banned in Singapore with few exceptions. In 2020, the country’s Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), said they had to take into account the “ethical and societal concerns over legalising egg freezing”, amongst other factors. However, last month, in a ground-breaking move, the government announced that from 2023, single women between 21- 35 would be allowed to freeze their eggs.But with a caveat – they can use the eggs only if and when they are legally married. This immediately excludes single women who may want to raise children outside of marriage and also same-sex couples who cannot get married under Singaporean law. Preserving fertility Globally, egg freezing has become increasing popular. It involves collecting a woman’s eggs from her ovaries, storing them in a state of deep freeze and thawing them at a later stage.At this point they are put together with sperm in the hope that an embryo forms and a pregnancy develops.In 2009, just 475 women froze their eggs in the US, according to date from the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. By 2018, 13,275 women had done so – an increase of more than 2500%. Singapore has seen a similar trajectory. One clinic in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur told news agency AFP that in 2021, they had seen a “growing number” of Singaporean women coming for the procedure.Image source, Getty ImagesAnd as more in Singapore started to turn to egg freezing – they also began speaking up against the ban.Emma, who in 2021 started “My Eggs My Time” – a campaign calling for egg freezing to be legalised in Singapore, was among them. “The response [was] overwhelmingly positive. I received floods of messages from women sharing their stories on why they wanted to freeze their eggs,” said Emma, who is only identified by her first name. The topic was also one that was repeatedly brought up in parliament by Member of Parliament Cheng Li Hui.”In 2016, when I first raised it, people were like ‘What is this? You’re too modern for us’,” she said. “But along the way, there’s been a lot more conversation. Last year [after I brought this topic up], I could really see a big difference [in reactions]. I got many more emails thanking me.”Many have also welcomed the fact that egg-freezing could help boost Singapore’s fertility rate, which is among the lowest in the world. In 2020, this stood at a historic low of 1.1 babies per woman, compared to a global average of 2.4.”This is a timely move,” said Shailey Hingorani, Aware’s head of Research and Advocacy, but adds that there are several caveats that are “disappointing”. A traditional family nucleus Singapore is one of the world’s most modern cities – yet its also deeply conservative – especially around its concept of family, which it refers to as the “basic building blocks of society”,The state largely tries to push forward a “limited definition of family… traditionally defined as a father, mother and their children”, says Ms Hingorani. State policies are arguably geared towards encouraging the growth of such families. Unwed and single parents for example, are only eligible for limited housing grants. “Singapore’s housing policies do not consider a single unwed mother and her children a “family nucleus”, and thus disallow them from qualifying for certain subsidies,” said Ms Hingorani.Single people – including LGBT couples who cannot legally get married – must also wait until the age of 35 to buy public housing flats, and even then have a smaller number of options to choose from. Why one man could not adopt his own childSingapore court upholds gay sex ban The podcast telling Singapore’s hidden gay storiesWhen asked if there were plans to change these caveats, a spokesperson from Singapore’s Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said the country’s public policy “encourages parenthood within marriage”. Ms Hingorani added this was “disappointing, but not surprising”, and has called for Singapore to “make elective egg freezing accessible to all regardless of marital status, financial capacity and educational status”. Another issue that has been brought up with the new policy is that Singapore will only allow women under the age of 35 to freeze their eggs. This is in line with guidelines set by UK fertility regulator HFEA, which says fertility declines with age, so the optimum time for egg freezing is before a woman turns 35.Yet data has showed that the most common age at which women in the UK are treated is 38, with many freezing eggs into their 40s.Ms Cheng says women in Singapore may face a similar situation. Egg freezing in your 40s ‘not sensible'”We are a developed nation, we have educated women who have careers and have choices. I think the age limit of 35 is really tight. If a 37-year-old has a good egg reserve does that mean we should stop them from freezing their eggs?” she said.But the MSF says the age limit is “based on international scientific evidence and professional consensus that egg quality tends to decline significantly after 35 years”, though they said it was possible for women to appeal this age limit on a case-by-case basis. They added that they “may review this age limit… should there be medical advances which allow a stronger likelihood of conception with eggs that are from older women.” Image source, Steven GohBut women like Gwendolyn feel that while the government move has its limitations, she believes it will in general “empower” more Singaporean women to get their eggs frozen.”We should allow women to have agency – it’s my eggs. So if I’m 40 and want to be a single parent, then that’s my choice. But I think ultimately, at the end of the day, the fact that we’re allowing this is obviously a major step change.Can we do more? Absolutely. But I think for now, we should celebrate this change.”More on this storyWhy one man could not adopt his own childSingapore court upholds gay sex banThe podcast telling Singapore’s hidden gay stories

SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesChina and Hong Kong are seeing their largest spike in Covid cases in more than two years, despite determinedly pursuing one of the world’s strictest virus elimination policies. Most countries are now trying to live with coronavirus – so how long can China hold on to its “zero-Covid” goal? Striking a balanceFor the last two years, China’s strict measures to contain Covid, enforced by swift lockdowns and aggressive restrictions, seemed to be largely paying off. As the rest of the world grappled with surges in cases and deaths in 2020, China’s President Xi Jinping declared the country’s handling of the pandemic through lockdowns and widespread testing a success – and touted its methods as being the most effective in dealing with the virus. The zero-Covid model was therefore strictly enforced both in mainland China and Hong Kong.But things soon began to change. The first signs of strain on the much-vaunted zero-Covid model in China began to appear when authorities were forced to impose increasingly large lockdowns triggered by the more infectious Delta variant in 2021. These started to raise questions about how long China could maintain this policy. And now Omicron has called it further into question. In mainland China, thousands of cases are now being reported each day and millions of people in the north-eastern province of Jilin have been placed under lockdown – the first time China had restricted an entire province since the early days of the pandemic in Wuhan. Hong Kong, which was previously almost untouched by the virus, is now seeing 30,000 cases and more than 200 deaths a day. The city’s healthcare system has been overrun, with shocking images of people in need of hospital care receiving rudimentary treatment outside medical facilities. Image source, Getty ImagesIt’s a situation unlike anything the country has seen for the past two years. Officially, the Chinese government has not budged from its zero-Covid position. But there have been some signs that it may be softening its stance on how best to deal with the virus.Earlier this week, China’s National Health Commission said it was changing its rules so that mild cases would be isolated in centralised locations, rather than treated in hospitals. The criteria for a patient to be discharged from quarantine has also been lowered.”In the past, China would actually admit every patient – whether they were asymptomatic or with just mild symptoms – to the hospital,” Prof Jin Dong-yan of The University of Hong Kong told the BBC. “The fact they’re now proposing to [locally isolate] them – that’s one step to show they recognise that there’s a large group of people that do not need much help.”During China’s recent National People’s Congress meeting, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also said China would continue to make its Covid-19 response more “scientific and targeted”. “[Premier Li’s speech] hints that the government is ready to be more flexible and loosen restrictions gradually,” said Prof Chen Gang of the National University of Singapore. “Under [a more] dynamic policy, more emphasis will be placed on striking a balance between disease control and enabling people to live normal lives.”Businesses shut as China widens Covid lockdownsThe messy cost of China’s harsh lockdown playbookHow Hong Kong’s Covid plan went wrongOn the ground as well, there’s also been a noticeable shift in attitudes. Last year, top Chinese epidemiologist Zhang Wenhong suggested that China would eventually need to “co-exist” with the virus. He was met with a barrage of criticism, with some calling him a traitor, and others saying he was colluding with foreign forces to undermine China’s Covid response. But just this week, Dr Zhang posted another message on Chinese social media that got a very different reception.While he said that it was necessary for China to maintain its zero-Covid strategy for now, he added that it should not be afraid to eventually move towards a more “sustainable coping strategy” in the future. “With this virus, alleviating fear is the first step we must take,” he said. “Omicron has become so mild, in countries that have achieved widespread vaccination and natural infection rates, it may be less deadly than even the flu.”This time, he was not met with vitriol – and was instead widely praised. “Thank you Dr Zhang for your scientific and rational [take] on issues,” one comment said.Others shared their struggles over the past years – a sign of growing frustration after more than two years of lockdowns.”These past few years, I have suffered a lot. I have lost my freedom – all in the name of the virus,” one said.According to Professor Huang Yanzhong, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, there is a sense that “public support for zero-Covid is in decline”. “My sense is that especially in bigger cities like Shanghai, some people are saying it’s just too much. While there’s still overall public support for zero-Covid – it’s being undermined by the recent Omicron wave,” he said. Politics and the pandemicSo how much longer can China hold on?Experts say we are unlikely to see any big moves this year, especially not now while it is in the throes of its biggest outbreak in years.Many believe loosening restrictions now could lead to an overwhelmed healthcare system – and a huge spike in the death rate. All mainland China needs to do is look to Hong Kong to see a city struggling to contain its outbreak, with morgues filled to capacity and hospitals swamped with patients. Prof Huang says China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been proclaiming the fact that it has avoided a significant number of deaths, and “there is no doubt that opening will lead to a rapid increase in cases”.”The dilemma is do you want to accept short-term pain – a significant increase of cases, deaths – for long-term stability?”Analysts believe the answer is unlikely to be yes – especially right now.”If restrictions are loosened, the number of deaths may shoot up, leading to social panic – something that will not be allowed in the politically sensitive year of the 20th party congress,” said Prof Chen. This Chinese Communist Party 20th party congress is one of the country’s most important political events of the decade, and on paper, was when President Xi Jinping was supposed to step down, having come to the end of his two term-limit in office.Image source, Getty ImagesBut this limit was removed and there is growing certainty that Mr Xi will secure another term in power as party chief and come out of the congress “more powerful than ever”, according to Michael Cunningham of research institution the Heritage Foundation. “The government usually shifts the pendulum toward preserving stability in party congress years, as those in power seek to avoid crises rather than make bold decisions that, if unsuccessful, could negatively impact their career prospects,” said Mr Cunningham in a report. Mr Xi himself said in a politburo meeting on Thursday that China would stick to its dynamic zero-Covid policy, saying: “Victory comes from perseverance”. With this clear instruction coming from the top, its more likely that officials will instead put in place smaller and gradual measures, similar to those already being made – but with no “fundamental” change – for now. “The problem with the zero-Covid policy is that it doesn’t accept risks,” says Prof Huang. “And unless [the Chinese government] is no longer obsessed with worst-case scenarios, you cannot expect to see a fundamental change to its policy.”More on this storyBusinesses shut as China widens Covid lockdownsThe messy cost of China’s harsh lockdown playbookHow Hong Kong’s Covid plan went wrongXi Jinping cements status with historic resolution

SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingimage sourceGetty ImagesAuthorities in the Chinese city of Wuhan will begin testing its entire population, after a handful of positive coronavirus cases were detected there. Wuhan has recorded seven locally transmitted cases – the first local infections in more than a year. The city of 11 million people shot into the spotlight after the coronavirus was first detected there in 2019.China is currently seeing one of its biggest outbreaks in months, with 300 cases detected in 10 days.Some 15 provinces across the country have been affected, which has led to the government rolling out mass testing measures and lockdown restrictions. Authorities have attributed the spread of the virus to the highly contagious Delta variant and the domestic tourism season.What is the Delta variant and is it more dangerous?The announcement in Wuhan came as China reported 90 new virus cases on Tuesday.The National Health Commission said 61 of these were locally transmitted – compared with 55 local cases a day earlier. China had been largely successful in controlling the virus within its borders. However, this new spread, which was first detected among workers at a busy airport in Nanjing, has sparked concern. Authorities have tested the 9.2 million residents of Nanjing three times and imposed lockdown on hundreds of thousands of people.But over the weekend the spotlight turned to popular tourist destination Zhangjiajie in Hunan province, where many of the latest cases have emerged. Travellers from Nanjing were thought to have visited the city recently.Health officials have zeroed in on a theatre in Zhangjiajie, and are now trying to track down about 5,000 people who attended performances and then travelled back to their home cities.”Zhangjiajie has now become the new ground zero for China’s epidemic spread,” Zhong Nanshan, China’s leading respiratory disease expert, told reporters.The new outbreak has also reached the capital Beijing, with the city reporting several locally transmitted infections.

SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingimage copyrightGetty ImagesThey’ve been hailed as virus success stories – places that have seen virtually zero or single-digit Covid cases since the start of the year.But this month, Singapore and Taiwan have both seen a sudden and aggressive rise in cases – with Singapore logging 248 new cases just last week, and Taiwan 1,200 local infections. Both places have gone into a heightened state of restrictions, limiting the size of social gatherings and closing schools.By global standards, these numbers may seem small – but for these places, these figures would have been unthinkable just months ago. So what exactly went wrong?A tale of complacency: TaiwanTaiwan was among the first places to ban foreign visitors almost as soon as China reported the emergence of the virus – and these tough border restrictions still remain in place. Locally however, the population started to become complacent – as did its government. Hospitals stopped aggressively testing people for Covid, even those with a fever – a common symptom of the virus, according to Associate Professor Lin Hsien-ho of the National Taiwan University. According to online publication Our World in Data, Taiwan was administering just 0.57 virus tests per 1,000 people in mid-Feb. This compared to Singapore’s rate of 6.21 and the UK’s rate of 8.68 at around the same period. “There was a general assumption even with people showing symptoms that the probability of having Covid-19 was essentially zero,” Dr Lin told the BBC, adding that it stemmed from a belief that the virus could not break through Taiwan’s strong borders. “Doctors were not taking it seriously, hospitals were not alert, they were not doing a lot of contact tracing. There was definitely a certain sense of complacency.”This was especially highlighted when Taiwan relaxed its quarantine requirements for non-vaccinated airline pilots from an initial 14-day period, to five days – and then, just three days.Shortly afterwards, a cluster broke out connected to a handful of China Airlines pilots who had been staying at a Novotel near Taoyuan Airport. Many of those linked to this cluster were later found to have contracted the UK variant, known as B.1.1.7.The virus then spread through the community, eventually making its way to Taiwan’s “tea houses” – adult entertainment venues. image copyrightGetty Images”You had people singing, drinking, coming into frequent contact in an indoor setting. It was not just one teahouse but many on the same street – it was a very large super spreader event,” said Dr Lin. Professor Chen Chien-jen, an epidemiologist and former vice-president of Taiwan, says the fact that many who tested positive were unwilling to declare they had visited such adult entertainment venues made contact tracing even more difficult. “It just reminds us that even when a very small proportion of the population breaks the rules, it will lead to leakages,” said Dr Chen. He also adds that Taiwan failed to look at Japan’s adult entertainment industry – which at one point was also a hotbed of infections – before it was ordered shut. “We didn’t learn the lesson from Japan and reflect that Taiwan might have these same issues,” he said. According to Associate Professor Alex Cook of the National University of Singapore (NUS), Taiwan’s situation is a “a reflection of the constant risk of a strategy that puts too much emphasis on border control and not enough on measures to prevent within country spread”.Cracks in the wall: Singapore In Singapore however, it was a different story. Measures here have always been stringent despite low cases – public gatherings were kept to a maximum of eight, clubs have not been allowed to open and there is still a cap on mass gatherings like weddings.But there were still gaps in its vaccine playbook, and by late May, Singapore’s Changi Airport – which also boasts a popular shopping centre – had turned into the country’s biggest Covid cluster this year.Authorities later found out that a number of infected airport staff had been working in a zone that received travellers from high-risk countries, including those in South Asia. Some of these workers then went on to have their meals in the airport’s food courts – which are open to members of the public – further spreading the virus. Singapore has now closed its passenger terminals to members of the public temporarily as a result. image copyrightGetty ImagesMany of the infected were later found to have a highly contagious variant that first surfaced in India – known as B.1.617.Singapore has now also announced that it would segregate flights and passengers from high-risk countries and regions from those arriving from lower-risk places. Staff will also be ring-fenced and segregated by zones.Some online are asking why such measures were not taken earlier, noting potential loopholes were pointed out up to a month ago.But one expert said he thinks it was “inevitable” that the new variant would have found its way into Singapore. “I understand why people are feeling frustrated because the majority of Singaporeans have been extremely compliant,” said Prof Teo Yik Ying, dean of the NUS School of Public Health. “But we are not like China which can keep its borders completely shut. Our reputation as a country, our economy, is linked to our position as a trade hub.”[Also] if we look at the US last year, its worst virus cases came in not from China, but from travellers that went to Europe. So how many countries can Singapore close its borders to? We have to understand it’s never just closing off one country.”But Prof Cook says the country is still in a “very good position” to rein in its outbreak. “I’m hesitant to say that ‘things went wrong’, since Singapore is still, despite the stepping up of measures, in a very good position,” he said. “If we compare it to the UK, the typical daily cases is around 10% of the UK’s level after adjusting for population size. In other words, Singapore is tightening measures to pre-empt getting to a point where the virus can run amok.”A slow vaccination drive There is one problem that’s plaguing both Singapore and Taiwan: vaccines. Many in Taiwan didn’t want to take the vaccine when things were going well, with fears around the AstraZeneca vaccine – the main one Taiwan currently stocks – further adding to this hesitancy. Is the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine safe?The vaccines that work – and the others on the wayThe current rise in cases however, means that people in Taiwan are now flocking to get the vaccine. The only problem is – there isn’t enough to go around. Taiwan has to date received just 300,000 vaccines – for a population of 24 million. image copyrightGetty Images”We have tried our best to purchase vaccines from international companies but we didn’t get much. The only way to sustain our supply is to manufacture ourselves, this is very important for Taiwan,” said Dr Chen.Taiwan is currently working on producing two local vaccines, which could be available as quickly as the end of July. It’s a similar tale in Singapore. Around 30% of people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to Our World in Data, the highest vaccination rate in South East Asia. But the country is limited by its vaccine supply – though the government expects to vaccinate its entire population by the end of the year. “Ultimately we are limited by the supply. In countries like the UK, US, China, they have the capabilities to produce their own vaccines,” said Prof Teo. “We anticipate that the need for vaccines is going to be long term, so that’s why we are moving towards having our own manufacturing capabilities. Then we will no longer be reliant.”Prof Teo adds that the spike in both places is a lesson for countries that may now be seeing a dip in cases.”When we see countries in Europe, or the US starting to relax measures, I think they should be very cautious and look around the world to see what is happening,” he said. “What’s happened in Taiwan, Singapore – it’s a sign that we should not let our guard down.”