Enlarge / Well being care staff sporting private protecting gear transport the physique of a deceased affected person onto a hearse outdoors the mortuary on the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong, China, on Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Hong Kong reported greater than 55,000 instances on Wednesday, its hospitals are inundated, and the town’s morgues are almost full. (credit score: Getty | Bloomberg)

For a lot of the pandemic, China saved the coronavirus at bay. The nation adopted an aggressive COVID-Zero plan, rigorously figuring out, containing, and tracing instances to stop the viral unfold. It appeared to work remarkably nicely—till the arrival of the ultratransmissible omicron variant.

The seemingly uncontainable virus is now exploding in China, smashing information each day and laying naked a tragic fault in China’s COVID insurance policies: the nation’s most susceptible—older folks—are among the many least protected by vaccination. As such, demise charges are sure to soar.

This has already performed out in Hong Kong, which noticed its personal towering omicron wave between January and March. In its wake was one of many highest demise charges the world has seen amid the pandemic. In a research printed Friday by the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, the US CDC partnered with the CDC China for a postmortem on the lethal spike. The evaluation highlighted the deadly flaw when neglecting to vaccinate older folks.