A well-known epidemiologist who advises the administration issued the warning. In one day, 60,000 infections were reported.
After Beijing decided to abandon its “Covid zero” policy, coronavirus infections “spread swiftly” in China, said a renowned epidemiological advisor to the government this Sunday.
Last Wednesday, the Chinese health authorities announced a general relaxation of the anti-covid measures, which included confinements and extensive testing. This strong restraint strategy ultimately hurt the nation’s economy and sparked a wave of protests that had not been seen in the nation since the pro-democracy movement of 1989, when it was last used.
The nation is recording record levels of infections, and the heavy week reported a record of more than 60,000 in a single day. The goal of systematic and large-scale PCR tests and the option of isolating at home in moderate and asymptomatic cases are helping to reduce infection rates.
According to Zhong Nanshan, one of the principal medical authorities who has advised the Chinese government since the beginning of the pandemic, “the epidemic in China (…) is spreading rapidly at this time, and under these circumstances, whatever the strength of prevention or control, it will be difficult to completely cut the chain of transmission” of the virus. This warning was made in an interview with the state media that was published this Sunday.
Zhong continued, “The present subvariants of micron (…) are highly contagious,” adding that “one individual can spread it to 22 people.”
With millions of elderly people who haven’t finished the immunization program and hospitals that can’t handle the volume of patients, China is ill-prepared to handle a surge of illnesses.
Long lineups gathered in front of pharmacies in Beijing today to purchase antigen tests and antifever medications.
Liu Cheng, a mother of two who resides in the Chinese capital’s heart, told the AFP news agency, “I’m terrified to go out.” The woman said, “Many” of her pals “had symptoms or have tested positive.”
Five days after the country recorded a new peak in infections with more than 62,400 illnesses in a single day and an average of roughly 41,000 infections per day on a weekly basis, the decision to remove sanitary regulations was made.
Our World in Data data show that the curve has been descending ever since, and on Saturday 12,755 cases were reported, bringing the weekly average down to little over 23,000 daily infections.
However, the figures are still concerning.
Both the frequency of cases and the rate of spread of the disease have not been this high since April of this year. It increased from 1,300 daily instances on November 1 to roughly 31,000 in just 40 days.