Reuters reveals COVID and bust: China’s private health system hurt by tough coronavirus controls

Reuters offered readers a deep dive into how the diversion of resources into what China calls its ‘zero-COVID’ approach to contain and eliminate the virus forced hospitals to suspend many services it relied upon for revenue, sealing its financial failure. The world’s second-largest economy remains behind several parts of the world by many healthcare measures and is in the middle of a ‘Healthy China’ programme that aims to raise average life expectancy to 79 from 76 by 2030, while increasing survival rates for cancer and other chronic illnesses. Zero-COVID may actually make those goals harder to reach.