コロナ有症状でも「通常勤務可能」 中国・重慶市、方針大転換

【北京ＡＦＰ＝時事】中国南西部の直轄市・重慶当局は、新型コロナウイルス感染症（ＣＯＶＩＤ－１９）の症状があっても「通常通り」出勤できるとする通達を出した。国営メディアの重慶日報が１９日、報じた。（写真は資料写真）
　中国ではこれまで、感染者が１人確認されただけで数千人がロックダウンの対象となってきただけに、劇的な方針転換となる。
　感染の徹底的な封じ込めを図る「ゼロコロナ」政策の突然の撤廃後、国内では感染が急拡大。当局も、感染状況の追跡はもはや「不可能」と認めた。
　こうした中、重慶日報によると、中国最大規模の人口約３２００万人を抱える重慶市当局は１８日、「軽度の症状のある」市、党、州の公務員は「体調や仕事の必要性に応じて、個人的な防護措置をとった上で通常通り勤務できる」と通達した。
　また、介護施設や学校、刑務所など特定の施設を除き、「不必要に」ウイルス検査を受けたり、陰性証明を求めたりしないよう市民に呼び掛けている。
　中国各地の地方政府では一般的に、新型コロナの症状がある間は自宅待機を奨励しており、重慶市の方針は大転換といえる。
　国内有数の経済拠点で６０００万人以上が暮らす東部・浙江省の当局も１８日、症状が軽い場合は「必要に応じて、個人的な防護策を講じることを前提に、勤務を続行できる」との方針を示した。
　中国では、複数の病院や火葬場で感染者数や死者数の急増が報告されている。また、新年や春節の休暇で、農村部での感染が拡大するとの懸念も指摘されている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/12/20-16:00）

People with Covid-19 symptoms in one of China's largest cities can now go to work as normal, state media reported Monday, a dramatic reversal in a country where a single case could previously send thousands into lockdown.
The world's most populous nation is unwinding years of hardline coronavirus policy, with Covid spreading rapidly in the wake of the official end of mass lockdowns, testing and quarantines.
And with authorities admitting the outbreak is impossible to track, the southern megacity of Chongqing -- home to around 32 million people -- became one of the first parts of China to let people work normally even with visible symptoms, the Chongqing Daily reported Monday, citing a notice from municipal authorities.
The notice, issued Sunday, said that mildly symptomatic government, party and state workers can work as normal after undertaking personal protections in accordance with their physical conditions and needs of their jobs.
It also urged residents not to take virus tests unnecessarily or require people to show a negative result, with exceptions for certain facilities such as care homes, schools and prisons.
Local governments across China have generally encouraged people to isolate at home while recovering from the disease -- a dramatic shift from the previous policy of herding people into state quarantine facilities.
On Sunday, eastern Zhejiang province -- a major economic hub home to more than 60 million people -- said those with mild symptoms could continue to work, if need be, on the prerequisite of taking personal protections.
Authorities have stuck to their guns despite evidence that some hospitals and crematoriums are struggling with spiking cases and deaths, as well as fears of a wave of infections in underdeveloped rural areas during the upcoming public holidays.
Visits to hospitals and clinics surged in the days following China's lifting of restrictions, though the World Health Organization said the virus was already spreading widely in the country as the control measures in themselves were not stopping the disease.
Cities and provinces across China have been forced to adjust their public health offerings as the country learns to coexist with the virus for the first time.
In the eastern city of Suzhou, authorities have hurriedly converted testing sites into makeshift stations for fever treatment, according to state media.
Other cities, including the capital Beijing, have handed out free medical kits to some residents and urged patients to choose online consultations instead of visiting hospitals, state media reported.