Covid-19 Cases in China Top 900 Million Since Zero-Covid Policy Scrapped

According to a Peking University study, over 900 million people in China were infected with the coronavirus as of 11 January. The virus has infected 64% of the country’s population.

The study places Gansu province first, with 91% of the population infected, followed by Yunnan (84%) and Qinghai (80%). A top Chinese epidemiologist has also predicted an increase in cases in rural China during the lunar new year.

According to Zeng Guang, former head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control, the peak of China’s Covid wave is expected to last two to three months. Hundreds of millions of Chinese are returning home, many for the first time since the pandemic began, in preparation for the lunar new year on January 23.

Since abandoning zero-Covid, China has stopped providing daily Covid statistics.

However, as the virus has spread throughout the country, hospitals in major cities, where healthcare facilities are better and more easily accessible, have become overcrowded with Covid patients.

Mr. Zeng said earlier this month at an event that it was “time to focus on rural areas,” according to the Caixin news outlet.

He added that many elderly, sick, and disabled people in the countryside were already being left behind regarding Covid treatment.

Chinese Lunar New Year

China’s central Henan province is the only one that has provided information on infection rates; earlier this month, a health official said nearly 90% of the population had Covid, with similar rates in urban and rural areas. However, government officials claim that the peak of infections has passed in many provinces and cities.

The Chinese Lunar New Year holidays officially begin on January 21 and involve the world’s largest annual migration of people.

Tens of millions have already traveled, with two billion trips expected. China abruptly abandoned its zero Covid policies last month. On Sunday, it also reopened its borders.

Over the last month, official data shows five or fewer deaths per day, which contradicts the long lines seen at funeral homes and reports of deaths on social media.

Chinese officials stated in December that they planned to issue monthly rather than daily updates on the country’s Covid situation.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), China, which stopped reporting Covid fatalities on Tuesday, is significantly underreporting Covid deaths.

In response, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin reiterated at a regular press briefing on Thursday that Beijing had shared Covid data “in a timely, open, and transparent manner following the law,” having held technical exchanges with the WHO over the past month.

According to international health experts, at least a million Covid-related deaths are expected in China this year. Since the pandemic began, Beijing has officially reported just over 5,000 deaths, one of the world’s lowest death rates.

China Reports 60,000 Deaths

China said on Saturday that 60,000 people with COVID-19 had died in hospitals since the country’s zero-COVID policy was abandoned last month, a significant increase from previously reported figures and in response to global criticism of the country’s coronavirus data.

Following widespread protests in late November, Beijing abruptly dismantled its strict three-year anti-virus regime of frequent testing, travel restrictions, and mass lockdowns in early December, and cases have risen since then across the 1.4 billion-person nation.

According to a health official, COVID fever and emergency hospitalizations have peaked, and the number of hospitalized patients is continuing to decline.

Between December 8 and January 12, the number of COVID-related deaths in Chinese hospitals totaled 59,938, according to Jiao Yahui, head of the National Health Commission’s Bureau of Medical Administration.

She stated that 5,503 of those fatalities were caused by COVID-related respiratory failure, while a combination of COVID and other diseases caused the remainder.