GUANGZHOU/DALIAN, China -- Hospitals in China face severe understaffing along with shortages of beds and medicine as COVID-19 infections skyrocket, underscoring the growing strain on the nation's health care system even as the official count remains low.
With the government easing its zero-COVID policy earlier this month, the number of infected people reached more than 240 million in December alone, according to an internal estimate leaked online. More than 5,000 people are likely dying from COVID-19 each day, according to estimates from British medical research company Airfinity.
