China Expanding Hospitals, ICUs

BEIJING (AP) — Facing a surge in COVID-19 cases, China is setting up more intensive care facilities and trying to strengthen hospitals as Beijing rolls back anti-virus controls that confined millions of people to their homes, crushed economic growth and set off protests. President Xi Jinping’s government still is officially committed to stopping virus transmission, the last major country to try. But the latest moves suggest the ruling Communist Party will tolerate more cases without quarantines or shutting down travel or businesses as it winds down its “zero-COVID” strategy. A Cabinet meeting called for “full mobilization” of the health system including adding staff and increasing supplies of drugs. Some restaurants and businesses have closed because too many employees are sick.