China's Covid woes ring alarm bells,over1 million deaths predicted

In China, Covid cases are surging rapidly since the revocation of the most severe zero policy restrictions earlier this month. The country  is experiencing the first of three expected waves of Covid infections this winter, according to a top Chinese health official. The latest official figures appear to show a relatively low number of new daily cases. However, there are concerns that these numbers are an underestimate due to a recent reduction in Covid testing. So far the government reported only 2,097 new daily cases. According to Epidemiologist Wu Zunyou, the current spike in infections would run until mid-January, while the second wave would then be triggered by mass travel next month around the week-long Lunar New Year celebrations which begin on anuary 21. Millions of people usually travel at this time to spend the holiday with family. The third surge in cases would run from late February to mid-March as people return to work after the holiday, Dr Wu said. He told a conference on Saturday that current vaccination levels offered a certain level of protection against the surges and had resulted in a drop in the number of severe cases. Several videos have been shared on social media with claims that hospitals in China are being overwhelmed due to rising infection cases.

THERMONUCLEAR BAD—Hospitals completely overwhelmed in China ever since restrictions dropped. Epidemiologist estimate >60% of & 10% of Earth’s population likely infected over next 90 days. Deaths likely in the millions—plural. This is just the start— pic.twitter.com/VAEvF0ALg9

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) December 19, 2022

Dr Wu's comments come after a reputable US-based research institute reported earlier this week that it believed China could see over a million people die from Covid in 2023 following an explosion of cases. Though the government has not officially reported any Covid deaths since 7th of this month, there are anecdotal reports of deaths linked to Covid appearing in Beijing.  U.S.-based Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) has  projected that cases in China would peak around April 1, when deaths would reach 3.22 lakh. About a third of China’s population will have been infected by then, IHME Director Christopher Murray said. China lifted some of the world’s toughest Covid restrictions in December after unprecedented public protests and is now experiencing a spike in infections, with fears Covid could sweep across its 1.4 billion population during next month’s Lunar New Year holiday.