Chinese turn to traditional remedies to fight Covid wave

21 January 2023
Chinese turn to traditional remedies to fight Covid wave

As Covid-19 rips through China's vast population, making millions sick and fuelling a shortage of drugs, many are turning to traditional medicines to battle the aches and pains of the virus.

Encompassing a range of treatments from herbal remedies and massages to acupuncture and diets, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used for thousands of years to treat all manner of ailments.

Critics say it is pseudoscientific and ineffective in treating actual illness, and there is little peer-reviewed data to back claims of its efficacy. But millions in China use it, often in conjunction with modern medicine to alleviate symptoms.