(Yicai Global) Dec. 19 -- As Chinese New Year approaches at the end of January next year, Chinese local governments are preparing for a big jump in the number of Covid-19 cases as people start to return home from the cities to their rural hometowns amid eased pandemic control and prevention measures.

Local governments in southeastern Zhejiang province, eastern Jiangxi province, eastern Shandong province and central Hunan province are all saying that they expect a surge in cases early next month that will reach a peak around the Spring Festival holiday which falls on Jan. 22 this year.

And as the number of cases rise, there will also be more severe infections. As a result, many local governments are taking measures to prevent the overloading of medical resources, especially in rural areas.

The National Health Commission is boosting the number of medical staff at its township-level hospitals and clinics by transferring health workers from the cities, rehiring staff who retired in the last five years, adding temporary workers and other means, the commission said on Dec. 16.

"All local medical institutions may have to accept Covid-19 patients," said Dong Liang, leader of Shandong province’s medical treatment expert team under the Covid-19 Work Headquarters. Local hospitals are making concerted efforts to get ready and it will take around one month to finish preparations.

Hospitals and clinics across Zhejiang province are increasing their headcount at fever outpatient departments so as to provide a 24-hour service, Chen Zhong, vice secretary-general of the provincial government and executive deputy director of the Office of Zhejiang Provincial Epidemic Prevention and Control Leading Group, said yesterday.

Hospitals in Hangzhou and other cities in the province are offering online diagnosis for people who have a high temperature and who think they have caught the novel coronavirus to take the pressure off brick-and-mortar clinics, Chen said. Residents can seek help online and avoid standing in long queues.

Zhejiang will also set up delivery teams in urban communities and rural villages to buy daily necessities for senior citizens, the disabled and the bedridden, Chen added.

There were 390 hospitals in Zhejiang offering fever outpatient services, and 1,272 grassroot fever clinics covering 90 percent of county-level towns as of Dec. 17.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor