China is facing its worst-ever pandemic wave at a time when the world is slowly overcoming COVID-19. The infection rate in China has already peaked, including in its capital city, and now cases are expected to surge in Shanghai in a week and in regions with a higher number of residents, reported SCMP, citing health specialists.
It has come to light that the country is likely to witness a “tsunami” of infections sweeping across the big cities that can last for months before the situation normalises. The experts have suggested that coronavirus cases might go up in a week but the outbreak would “stay longer.”
China’s COVID outbreak to stay ‘longer’?
“I think the infections in Shanghai will peak in a week, and after the peak, the outbreak will continue for one to two more months,” said the director of the infectious diseases department at Fudan University’s Huashan Hospital.
The situation in China has worsened after the authorities scrapped their zero-COVID policy, owing to which citizens are no longer required to follow the stringent protocols that include mandatory swab tests and quarterly checks, making it difficult for the health authorities to know the real infection rate. However, a leaked video clip from a National Health Commission meeting held on Wednesday revealed that China reported nearly 37 million COVID cases in a single day on Tuesday.
The information from the leaked video has now gone viral, and several media outlets have reported that the condition in China would grow even “more serious” in the coming weeks if the government failed to take appropriate actions. The leaked video contained details that revealed that around 248 million people around China were infected from December 1 to 20, making up around 17.56% of the country’s total population. The meeting also discussed how half of the people in Beijing and Sichuan Province had been infected.
Meanwhile, chair professor of epidemiology and head of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Hong Kong’s school of public health, Ben Cowling, stated that some cities, including Beijing, might have already witnessed the peak, and now the outbreak is slowly coming down. “I think nationwide the peak in infections will be in early January. Some cities like Beijing may already have passed their peak,” he said.
Furthermore, an expert at Peking University First Hospital told the media news portal Yixuejie that the infection rate might come down after the Chinese New Year that is observed in late January. “We probably have to wait until February or March before things return to normal,” he was quoted as saying.
China reports multiple Omicron-variants
The report published on SCMP underscored the fact that China is experiencing multiple Omicron variants. Variant BF.7, which is short for BA.5.2.1.7, and BA.5.2, are responsible for the current surge in China. It is to mention that BF.7 is the highly transmissible variant responsible for the surge in Beijing, according to scientists. Last year, China witnessed 5 to 6 variants of Delta.