"COVID-19 Spreading Again," China on Edge... Why Pills Are Hard to Find

This man tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from his vacation.

[COVID-19 Positive Patient: I went to the hospital, and the doctor said confirmed cases have surged recently. It seems this disease is never going away. They say another wave has begun.]

According to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the COVID-19 positive rate among respiratory samples from influenza-like illness patients visiting outpatient clinics and emergency rooms at sentinel hospitals nationwide was 20.3% between June 20 and 26.

This means 1 in 5 people contracted COVID-19.

In particular, rising by 4 percentage points compared to the previous week, it surpassed the influenza virus to rank as the number one cause of respiratory illness.

Chinese disease control authorities view that COVID-19 has entered a "moderate epidemic" stage and expect infections to increase further for the time being.

Several types of oral COVID-19 treatments have already been authorized in China, and three of them have received full approval.

However, it is difficult to obtain oral COVID-19 treatments at regular pharmacies in most regions, including Beijing.

This is not because of a shortage of medicine, but because of "outdated regulations."

Guidelines restricting pharmacy sales were created early in the pandemic, and because it remains unclear whether these restrictions have been lifted, pharmacies—fearing potential crackdowns and administrative penalties—are reluctant to stock the treatments in the first place.

Ultimately, patients must visit hospitals for medical consultations and prescriptions or use direct-operated pharmacies on e-commerce platforms like JD.com and Meituan, where transaction records are kept. However, even these online deliveries are known to take one to two days, and up to five days for remote areas.

COVID-19 treatments must be taken in the early stages of symptom onset to lower the risk of severe illness, raising concerns that the therapeutic effectiveness may drop while waiting for the medicine.

It has even been reported that some pharmacies recommend flu treatments, which cannot be used as COVID-19 cures, to patients who cannot find the medicine.

Ambiguous administrative guidelines from authorities are compounding the suffering of patients who urgently need medication.

(Camera Reporter: Choi Deok-hyun | Video Editor: Lee Seung-yeol)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.