Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
China Reports Covid Detected Again
AP: Chinese City Locks Down 2 Areas As Cluster Grows
China’s southern manufacturing hub of Guangzhou has imposed lockdowns on two neighborhoods after an additional 11 cases of COVID-19 were detected in the city. The surrounding province of Guangdong has already required anyone wishing to travel to other parts of China produce a negative test for the virus taken within the previous 72 hours. (6/1)
Reuters: China Reports First Human Case Of H10N3 Bird Flu
A 41-year-old man in China's eastern province of Jiangsu has been confirmed as the first human case of infection with the H10N3 strain of bird flu, China's National Health Commission (NHC) said on Tuesday. The man, a resident of the city of Zhenjiang, was hospitalised on April 28 after developing a fever and other symptoms, the NHC said in a statement. ... H10N3 is a low pathogenic, or relatively less severe, strain of the virus in poultry and the risk of it spreading on a large scale was very low, the NHC added. (6/1)
The New York Times: U.S. Mask Companies Struggle To Compete With China
Mask mandates have eased, a welcome milestone in the battle against Covid-19. But for the two dozen domestic companies that jumped into the mask-making business last year, the good news comes with a downside: a calamitous drop in sales. Some of the slackening demand is tied to the loosening of masking guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but industry experts say a bigger factor has been the return of inexpensive protective gear from China that began flooding the American market earlier this year. (Jacobs, 5/29)
In other developments from China —
NPR: China Will Now Permit Married Couples To Have Up To 3 Children
China will now allow married couples to have up to three children as the country attempts to halt a declining birthrate. The policy is a dramatic change for a country which, less than a decade ago, still performed forced abortions and sterilizations of women who had more than one child. The new three child limit raises the previous ceiling of two children. It is a recognition from the country's top leaders that China will need to undertake drastic measures to counter a rapidly aging society. (Feng, 5/31)
The Wall Street Journal: Does China’s Baby Bust Mean A Global Inflation Boom?
China will allow couples to have three children and will invest more in education and child care, after decades of restricting most families to one or two children. The change is welcome, but the limited success of many other countries trying to boost births with financial incentives—and the lackluster response to a similar policy change in 2015—mean it is probably too late to head off the worst of China’s demographic crisis. The effects of the great Chinese baby bust will percolate to nearly every corner of the global economy. One of the biggest effects could be on something that is very much already on companies’ minds these days: inflation. (Taplin, 6/1)
The New York Times: For China’s Single Mothers, A Road To Recognition Paved With False Starts
For a few glorious weeks, Zou Xiaoqi, a single mother in Shanghai, felt accepted by her government. After giving birth in 2017, Ms. Zou, a financial worker, went to court to challenge Shanghai’s policy of giving maternity benefits to married women only. She had little success, losing a lawsuit and two appeals. Then, earlier this year, the city suddenly dropped its marriage requirement. In March, a jubilant Ms. Zou received a benefits check in her bank account. (Wang, 5/31)
