China reported nearly 13,000 Covid-related deaths in hospitals between January 13 and 19. This announcement followed a statement from a top health official indicating that the vast majority of the population has already been infected by the virus. A week earlier, China had reported nearly 60,000 Covid-related deaths in hospitals as of January 12. However, there has been widespread skepticism regarding official data since Beijing abruptly lifted anti-virus controls last month.
According to China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 681 hospitalized patients died from respiratory failure caused by coronavirus infection, while 11,977 died from other diseases combined with the infection during this period. It is important to note that these figures do not include those who died from the virus at home. Airfinity, an independent forecasting firm, has estimated that daily Covid deaths in China will peak at around 36,000 during the Lunar New Year holiday. The firm also estimates that more than 600,000 people have died from the disease since China abandoned its zero-Covid policy in December.
In recent days, tens of millions of people have traveled across the country for long-awaited family reunions to celebrate the biggest holiday in the lunar calendar, which fell on Sunday. This mass movement has raised concerns about potential new outbreaks. However, a top health official has stated that China is unlikely to experience a second wave of Covid infections in the next two to three months, as nearly 80 percent of the population has already been infected. Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist at the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, mentioned in a post on China’s Weibo platform that while the large number of travelers during the Spring Festival may promote the spread of the epidemic to some extent, the current wave has already infected a significant portion of the population.
China’s transport authorities have predicted that more than two billion trips will be made this month into February, marking one of the largest mass movements of people in the world.
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