Summer Chorus: Covid rips through China
Millions to die in China as rampant covid overwhelms hospitals; Australian relations with China improve; New RSE 'slavery' claims; Tesco warns NZ farmers on emissions
TLDR: Just a fortnight after pivoting away from its total covid elimination policy, China now faces a health catastrophe and more economic disruption as hospitals are overwhelmed and shopping centres go deathly quiet because of public fear there about catching the disease.
Beijing reported its first official deaths since December last night, but there are foreign media reports (Reuters, FT-$$$, Bloomberg-$$$) this morning of a jump in cremations at nursing homes and videos on social media showing body bags piling up at crowded hospitals.
Elsewhere in geo-politics, the global economy and Aotearoa’s political economy overnight and this morning:
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Kākā by Bernard Hickey to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.