Global pandemic record
37 million Chinese contract Covid in one day
In China, after moving away from the zero-Covid policy, the number of corona cases is increasing rapidly. According to estimates by the health authorities, a global pandemic record could now have occurred.
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Just a few weeks ago, mass tests were common in China.
After the Chinese leadership abruptly reversed its strict zero-Covid policy, the number of infections in China exploded. According to estimates by the government’s top health authority, almost 37 million people could have been infected with Covid-19 on December 20 alone, as “Bloomberg” reports.
That would mark not only a dramatic departure from the official number of just 3,049 infections reported in China that day, but also a global record in the pandemic. The previous all-time high of 4 million infections in one day occurred on January 19, 2022 amid a first wave of omicron infections in South Africa, according to Bloomberg.
How the Chinese health authority arrived at the numbers is unclear, as the country shut down its once-ubiquitous network of PCR testing booths earlier this month.
Probably over 18 percent of the population infected
Despite the high number of infections, the authorities are sticking to the lifting of the restrictions. Lockdowns have been ended and the strict obligation to test, forced quarantine or isolation has been largely relaxed. But China is poorly prepared for the resulting corona wave: the underfunded hospitals lack the capacity to take in a large number of patients. In addition, millions of elderly people are still not fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Up to 248 million people are likely to have contracted the virus in the first 20 days of December, which would be 18 percent of the population. This comes from the minutes of an internal meeting of China’s National Health Commission on Wednesday, confirmed by people involved in the talks.
But that might not be the climax yet. Chen Qin, chief economist at data consulting firm Metro Data Tech, forecasts it in most cities in China between mid-December and late January. (hey)