Covid Outbreak Has Infected 80% Of Chinese Population

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Credits: Julius Carmine/ Unsplash
  • The mass movement of people during the ongoing Lunar New Year holiday period may spread the pandemic, boosting infections in some areas.
  • China has passed the peak of COVID patients in fever clinics, emergency rooms and with critical conditions.
  • Nearly 60,000 people have died from COVID in hospital as of Jan. 12, roughly a month after China abruptly dismantled its zero-COVID policy.

The possibility of a big COVID-19 rebound in China over the next two or three months is remote as 80 percent of people have been infected, a prominent government scientist said Saturday.

Covid outbreak

The mass movement of people during the ongoing Lunar New Year holiday period may spread the pandemic, boosting infections in some areas, but a second wave of the coronavirus is unlikely in the near term, Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said on the Weibo social media platform.

Eased Covid curbs

Hundreds of millions of Chinese are traveling across the country for holiday reunions that had been suspended under recently eased COVID curbs, raising fears of fresh outbreaks in rural areas less equipped to manage large outbreaks.

Peak Covid patients

China has passed the peak of COVID patients in fever clinics, emergency rooms and with critical conditions, a National Health Commission official said Thursday.

Nearly 60,000 people have died from COVID in hospital as of Jan. 12, roughly a month after China abruptly dismantled its zero-COVID policy, according to government data.

But some experts said that figure probably vastly undercounts the full impact, as it excludes those who died at home, and because many doctors have said they are discouraged from citing COVID as a cause of death. 

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Source: Korea Times