Critical Discourse Analysis Based on Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics: Taking The Economist’s First Commentation on the End of China’s Zero-COVID Policy as an Example

Based on Halliday’s systemic functional grammar,especially the ideational function,this research aims at disclosing the hidden ideologies and values of the seemingly objective news reports on China’s COVID-19 policies in The Economist.Transitivity,voice,and nominalization are the major analytical subjects.After China lifted the zero-COVID policy,western media began criticizing China’s lack of data sharing,with some misinformation and misleading reports.The denouncement of inertness and reluctance to fight against the pandemic disclaim the Chinese government’s efforts and depreciate China’s image.China is portrayed as the villain and destroyer of people’s health worldwide.Meanwhile,they also hold a hesitant attitude toward China’s diplomacy.The re-engaging with foreign countries and travel restrictions have been described as imprudent and rushed actions.They also consider China as the fuse of contradiction in the United Nations.What is overt is their view of breaking up China.

Twin peaks of in-hospital mortality among patients with STEMI across five phases of COVID-19 outbreak in China:a nation-wide study

Lockdown and re-opening may become cyclical due to the recurrent waves of the COVID-19 epidemic.Few studies have examined temporal trends and determinants of in-hospital mortality among patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction(STEMI),a life-threatening condition that requires emergency medical care.Using nation-wide data before,during and after the Wuhan lockdown,we aimed to depict temporal patterns and major determinants of STEMI in-hospital mortality in China across five time periods of the COVID-19 epidemic.We analyzed the data of 283,661 STEMI patients who were admitted to 4,487 chest-pain-centers across China,from January 1,2019 to May 31,2020.Compared with the period before the lockdown,STEMI in-hospital mortality increased by 25%(OR 1.25,95%CI 1.16–1.34)during Early Lockdown,by 12%(OR 1.12,95%CI 1.03–1.22)during Later Lockdown,by 35%(OR 1.35,95%CI 1.21–1.50)during Early Lift,and returned to pre-COVID risk(OR 1.04,95%CI 0.95–1.14)during Later Lift.For each time-period,we observed a clear mortality gradient by timing and types of revascularization procedure.In conclusion,the COVID-19 epidemic had a significant adverse impact on STEMI in-hospital mortality,with bimodal peaks during early lockdown and early lift periods and clear mortality gradients by timing and types of revascularization procedure,independent of the time periods.