China's hospitals are facing the biggest challenge under overwhelmingly huge wave of COVID cases and a shortage of health workers as Chinese authorities continue to ease the dreaded COVID lockdowns, lengthy quarantines, and regular mass testing. Since the authorities rolled out a new 10-point plan Wednesday to ease its stringent Covid-19 controls and allowing some infected people to quarantine at home rather than in centralized facilities, cases surged as hospitals faced increased workload.<br />''<br />''In cities such as Guangzhou, Shijiazhuang in Hebei, and Beijing that have taken the lead in implementing the new policy, fever clinics are full of patients and cross-infections between patients and doctors have begun to emerge. Capital Beijing wore a deserted look as people stayed indoors amid reports of COVID cases in every nook and corner. Pharmacies are running short of fever-reducing medicines and long queues were seen at fever clinics.<br />''<br />''Beijing is building more fever clinics at hospitals and primary care facilities as part of efforts to cope with a spike in Covid infections, as its medical infrastructure comes under increasing strain after a rapid easing of virus control measures. The city also saw a surge in flu-like cases and emergency calls last week, the authorities said. Many patients rush to the hospitals to treat non-COVID ailments after the COVID restrictions were lifted. "The rapid development of the outbreak has put great short-term pressure on medical services," Li Ang, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission said at the briefing, warning of a continuous rapid rise in cases.<br />''<br />''China is faced with difficulties such as the shortage of intensive care resources, lack of vaccination among 80 years plus category, and a significant gap in health resources in urban areas as compared to rural areas amid this rapid surge. Experts predict a peak of infections in the next one to three months with about 60% of the population infected, which will put tremendous pressure on emergency medical services, healthcare workers, and intensive care units. <br />''<br />''Experts said, this looks like an attempt to achieve herd immunity by getting infected as authorities withdrew almost all the restrictions in quick succession this past week. The government yesterday pulled off the national travel app which is used to track people's movement through COVID risk areas.<br />''<br />