covid. and just in the past couple of days, you have senior officials who are suddenly spinning a new narrative saying, hey, the omicron variant isn t as deadly as previous variants. and you ve got health officials calling for shorter lockdowns, for less of a burden on the population. but the changes now are really piecemeal. you ve got some cities that are loosening some of their lockdowns. meanwhile, we re counting, as of thursday, lockdowns in at least 30 different cities across the country. winter is coming. even if it loosens up in china more, you ve still got tens of millions of chinese senior citizens that haven t had a third vaccine jab that are vulnerable. if they start getting very sick in large numbers, a question is going to be, will the chinese government risk the wrath of its own population to go back to these lockdowns again? and we re just going to have to watch this. ivan watts, appreciate it. coming up, the amazing
a strange unscripted moment for a government that prioritizes control above all else. and cnn s ivan watson joins us from hong kong. there s still a lot of unrest across china, everybody says the government will backtrack from from the zero covid policy. there are some signs, this is a government that talks about a peoples war against covid, and just in the past couple of days you have senior officials who are certainly spending a new narrative saying, the omicron variant isn t as deadly as previous variants, and you have health officials calling for shorter lockdowns. for less of a burden on the population. the change is now really piecemeal, got some cities that are loose fitting some of their lockdowns. , meanwhile or counting as of thursday, lockdowns of at least 30 different cities across the country. winter is coming, even if it loosens up in china. more, are you still got tens of
even harder stances to quell these insurrections. florida congressman michael waltz is a member of the house armed services committee and a former green beret commander joins us now. congressman, politico out with important reporting saying u.s. government communications describe the protests as dispirit, unorganized and largely leaderless that makes it unlikely the demonstrations will lead to a larger or more organized movement. so, what politico is saying is that the united states believes that this is a flash in the pain. that xi jinping is going to survive. this these protesters are going to get squashed down and life goes on per usual. is that a your assessment of the situation? i think it s hard to tell. we are seeing some shift in language from some chinese authorities that are starting to hint at, perhaps, the new omicron variant isn t that bad. they can relax some things. i think they are going to try to have a little release valve, particularly with the death of a
readies for a fourth coronavirus wave, already, its e.r. is seeing a spike in kids suffering mild symptoms. their parents seeking testing, bogging down triage for the seriously ill. we re seeing a lot of patients present with mild respiratory symptoms, cough, convention, fever. known covid exposures, et cetera, and i think a lot of them are seeking testing. reporter: like previous waves, the sickest kids, those needing hospitalization, are having a tough time breathing. they re getting lot of respiratory symptoms, as we ve been expecting. pneu pneumonias, needing respiratory support to help them breathe better. reporter: viral spread expected to intensify in the weeks ahead. and even if the omicron variant isn t as severe, the problem is even if the percent, percent hospitalization rate is lower,
unwrapping the secrets of an ancient egyptian pharoah. we ll hear from the researcher who peeled off the bandages using modern technology. hello and welcome. people in england are being urged to take care in the run up to new year s eve, after the westminster government decided not to bring in further covid rules. ministers say they re keeping the decision under close review but that the early indications are that the omicron variant isn t leading to the level of serious disease seen in previous waves. the uk government is to wait untiljanuary before re evaluating the situation. but scotland, wales and northern ireland have