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F STRICT COVID RESTRICTIONS, CHINA IS DRAMATICALLY LOOSENING UP ON RULES, AND OPENING ITS BORDERS. STARTING IN JANUARY, THE GOVERNMENT WILL SCRAP QUARANTINE REQUIREMENTS FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVELERS. IT IS THE LATEST MOVE ROLLING BACK THE GOVERNMENT'S SO CALLED ZERO COVID POLICY. BUT AS A RESULT OF EASING RESTRICTIONS, THE VIRUS IS NOW RAPIDLY SPREADING ACROSS TOWNS AND CITIES. HOSPITALS ARE OVERBURDENED, MEDICAL STAFF ARE OUTNUMBERED AND CREMATORIUMS ARE RUNNING OUT OF SPACE. IN BEIJING, IT'S A STRUGGLE TO SAVE LIVES. FRONTLINE WORKERS ARE BATTLING AN UNPRECEDENTED SURGE IN COVID RELATED HOSPITALIZATIONS. EMERGENCY WARDS ARE OVERCROWDED AND THERE'S A SHORTAGE OF BEDS IN HOSPITALS. PATIENTS ARE BEING TREATED ON CHAIRS, IN CORRIDORS. MEDICAL STAFF, MANY OF THEM WORKING SICK, ARE OVERWHELMED WITH CRITICAL PATIENTS. ZHOU YING: ALL THE PATIENTS WHO COME HERE HAVE OXYGEN LEVELS AT ONLY 50%, 60%, 70%, OR SO. SO WE FEEL A LOT OF PRESSURE WHEN IT COMES TO SEVERE CASES. OUR MEDICAL STAFF FELL ILL ONE AFTER ANOTHER AND MANY COLLEAGUES ARE STILL WORKING DESPITE BEING SICK. JUDY: THIS DRAMATIC SURGE OF COVID CASES WAS TRIGGERED BY A SUDDEN EASE IN RESTRICTIONS. ON DEC 7, BEIJING ABRUPTLY ENDED ITS ZERO COVID POLICY THAT HAD IMPOSED STRINGENT MEASURES LIKE MANDATORY QUARANTINE, MASS TESTING AND STRICT LOCKDOWNS ON RESIDENTS SINCE 2020. EARLIER THIS MONTH, WIDESPREAD PUBLIC PROTESTS ACROSS CHINA LED THE REGIME MAKE A U-TURN. BUT THE QUICK WITHDRAWAL FROM COVID PROTOCOLS HAS LED TO DESPERATION AND TRAGEDY. IN HEARTBREAKING SCENES, PEOPLE ARE QUEUING UP OUTSIDE FUNERAL HOMES AND CREMATORIUMS, COMPETING FOR A BIT OF SPACE FOR A DIGNIFIED FAREWELL TO THEIR LOVED ONES. WHILE SOME CITIES ARE REPORTING SOME NUMBERS, AS OF THE WEEKEND, THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT IS NO LONGER REPORTING OFFICIAL COVID DATA, MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE PUBLIC TO KNOW THE TRUE SCALE OF THE PANDEMIC. THE MOST ACCURATE INFORMATION PEOPLE HAVE ARE VIDEOS POSTED ON SOCIAL MEDIAF LED-UP BODY BAGS AND UNCOUNTED DEATHS ACROSS CHINA. FOR MORE ON CHINA'S SURGE IN COVID CASES, WE TURN TO DR. CHRIS BEYRER, DIRECTOR OF THE DUKE GLOBAL HEALTH INSTITUTE. AND LYNETTE ONG, A PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, WHERE SHE FOCUSES ON CHINA. HER LATEST BOOK IS "OUTSOURCING REPRESSION: EVERYDAY STATE POWER IN CONTEMPORARY CHINA." WE WELCOME BOTH OF YOU TO THE NEWSHOUR. HOW SERIOUS IS THE COVID SITUATION RIGHT NOW IN CHINA? DR. BEYRER: IT IS VERY SERIOUS ALTHOUGH FOR SIZE NUMBERS ARE HARD TO COME BY. THE OFFICIAL CHINESE NUMBERS DON'T LOOK ANYWHERE AS DIRE AS WHAT IS GENERALLY BEING UNDERSTOOD FROM HOSPITALS AND MORGUES. THE REAL ISSUE IS ZERO COVID WAS NEVER GOING TO WORK AGAINST OMICRON, IT IS TOO INFECTIOUS. THE CHINESE DID NOT GET THE ELDERLY POPULATION VACCINATED WITH HIGH EFFICACY VACCINES IN TIME. THEY NOW HAVE LISTED ZERO COVID AND THEY HAVE AN ENORMOUS POPULATION THAT'S VULNERABLE. JUDY: WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT WHY THEY DIDN'T GET MORE PEOPLE VACCINATED AND ESPECIALLY THE MOST VULNERABLE, THE ELDERLY? DR. BEYRER: THEY STARTED WITH CHINESE MANUFACTURED VACCINES USING VERY...