Page 4 - AHATA

A6 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 5 November 2022
Reports say China aiming for less disruptive COVID policies

By JOE McDONALD AP Busi- workers at the compound
ness Writer gate for help but they told
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese him to ask someone else
officials are trying to quell and asked him to show a
an outcry over the death negative virus test. The fa-
of a 3-year-old boy from ther wrote that he wound
a quarantined residential up taking his son by taxi to
compound that added to a hospital, where doctors
public anger at anti-virus failed to revive him.
controls that have con- Health experts and econo-
fined millions of people to mists say "Zero COVID" is
their homes. likely to stay in place pos-
The boy died at a hospital sibly through most of 2023,
in Lanzhou of carbon mon- due partly to the need to
oxide poisoning blamed on vaccinate millions of el-
a gas leak. His father ac- derly people before Bei-
cused health workers who jing can consider relaxing
were enforcing the closure requirements that people
of the compound of refus- who come into China must
ing to help and trying to be quarantined for a week
stop him as he rushed his or more.
son to the hospital. The National Health Com-
The father's account on so- mission said this week the
cial media prompted angry A woman has her throat swabbed for a COVID-19 test at a coronavirus testing site in Beijing, country needs to control
comments about the hu- Friday, Nov. 4, 2022. Chinese stocks in Hong Kong gained Friday after the health ministry said outbreaks "with the mini-
the mainland's severe anti-virus controls should be less costly and disruptive and a city said it
man cost of the ruling Com- would ease restrictions after access to an area around the world's biggest iPhone factory was mum scale affected and
munist Party's "Zero COVID" suspended. the shortest time and lowest
strategy that has confined cost possible," according to
families to cramped apart- when other governments cities who said they had run ment and blamed "weak the Global Times, published
ments for weeks at a time are easing anti-virus con- out of food and medicine emergency response." It by the ruling party newspa-
to fight outbreaks. trols. That has kept China's posted appeals for help on said public employees who per People's Daily.
The quarantine system "is infection numbers relatively social media. were found to have re- On Monday, visitors to
to protect life and health, low but disrupts business Public frustration has boiled sponded poorly would be Shanghai Disneyland were
not to confront those who and travel. over into fights with police "dealt with seriously." temporarily blocked from
need to be rescued with Residents of many parts of and health workers in some The boy's father said he leaving the park as part of
obstacles!" said a post on the Xinjiang region in the places. tried to call an ambulance virus testing the city said
the popular Sina Weibo so- northwest were barred The Lanzhou city govern- after his son collapsed Mon- extended to some 439,000
cial media service. from leaving their homes ment expressed "deep day after a possible gas people. The city health
The ruling party is sticking in August and September. sorrow and regret" for the leak at home. The father agency said the guests all
to "Zero COVID" at a time People in Urumqi and other boy's death in a state- wrote that he asked health tested negative. q

Russian soldiers reportedly spread into Kherson's homes

By ANDREW MELDRUM and been cut off from supplies A Kherson resident told The son, where residents also son region, the Ukrainian
YURAS KARMANAU Associ- and food by Ukrainian Associated Press that Rus- reported problems with army cut off the right bank
ated Press bombardment. sian soldiers were install- food supplies. of the Dnieper from sup-
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Rus- Kirill Stremousov, the dep- ing themselves in vacated Ukrainian military analyst plies of weapons and food
sian soldiers are forcing uty head of the region's apartments. Russian mili- Oleh Zhdanov told the AP by shelling main transpor-
Ukrainian civilians from their Kremlin-appointed admin- tary personnel are report- that as part of its counterof- tation routes and ruining
apartments in the occu- istration, reiterated calls edly going door to door, fensive to reclaim the Kher- bridges across the river.q
pied capital of the Kher- for civilians to depart for checking property deeds,
son region and moving in the left bank of the river. and forcing tenants to
themselves, a resident said Stremousov said Thursday leave immediately if they
Friday as the southern city that Russian forces might can't confirm ownership of
became a growing focus soon withdraw from Kher- apartments, he said.
of war in Ukraine. son city. On Friday, he said "They're forcing city resi-
His account of soldiers the statement was merely dents to evacuate, and
spreading throughout the an attempt to encourage then Russian soldiers move
city of Kherson suggested evacuations. into freed-up apartments
that Russia could be pre- Ukrainian President Volody- across all of Kherson," the
paring for intense urban myr Zelenskyy has suggest- resident, who spoke on
warfare in anticipation of ed the Russians were feign- condition that only his first
Ukrainian advances. ing a pull-out from Kherson name - Konstantin - was
Russia-installed authori- in order to lure in the Ukrai- used for security reasons.
ties in Kherson continued nian army. Zelenskyy called "It is obvious that they are
to urge civilians to leave attempts to convince civil- preparing for fighting the
the city, which lies on the ians to move deeper into Ukrainian army in the city." Kateryna, 36, a kitchen worker of the Puscha Vodytsia maternity
right, or western, bank of Russian-controlled territory Hospitals and clinics were hospital, looks for clothes at a distribution space in the village of
Moshun, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Nov. 4, 2022.
the Dnieper River and has "theater." not serving patients in Kher-