China Sees Long Queues At Pharmacies As Demand For Covid Drugs, Test Kits Soar. See Pics

As China grapples with a surge in Covid-19 cases, people are scrambling to buy fever medicines and painkillers to alleviate flu-like symptoms, resulting in serpentine queues outside pharmacies.

China is seeing a surge in cases after lifting zero-Covid policy restrictions

In this image, people are seen queuing to buy medicine at a pharmacy in Nanjing in China's eastern Jiangsu province. Locals have complained of sold-out cold medicines and long lines at pharmacies in several Chinese cities. (Source: AFP)

The panic buying is not only limited to China. It has spread outside mainland China's borders, with generic versions of Tylenol and Advil sold out at drugstores in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, CNN reported. (Source: AFP)

People visit a makeshift clinic transformed from a bus in Nanjing, in China's eastern Jiangsu province. With hospitals overburdened, several clinics have sprung up to help relieve the pressure on local hospitals and shelter patients from waiting in long lines in freezing weather. (Source: AFP)

People purchase ibuprofen at a pharmacy in Tai'an, Shandong province of China. Even home remedies such as canned peaches are being snapped up by people looking for ways to fight Covid. (Source: Getty)

Several shops have since imposed limits on how much customers can buy, and drugmakers are ramping up production. Not only medicines, people are also stocking up on rapid antigen test (RAT) kits. (Source: Getty)

Several Chinese citizens have turned to personal networks around the world to secure Covid supplies. Even as far as Australia, which has cities with large populations of ethnic Chinese residents, some Chinese Australians have begun sending over-the-counter cold and flu medicines to family members back in China. (Source: Getty)

The sudden surge in coronavirus cases came as the Xi Jinping government eased the stringent 'Zero Covid' policy amid mass protests. Reports said people were also directly going to the factories of drug manufacturers and waiting in long lines to buy them. (Source: Getty)

Amid the unprecedented crisis, China has ramped up Covid-19 vaccinations for elderly people. It has also decided to reduce to three months the gap between basic vaccination and booster shots for the elderly, Reuters reported. (Source: Getty)