corona new wave in china

In the analysis published by London-based health data services and analysis company Airfinity, it was reported that the epidemic is estimated to affect a total of 112 million people.

It is observed that the new epidemic wave has a more limited spread compared to the epidemic in which more than 1 billion people were infected during the winter months.

While Arfinity predicts that the epidemic will peak at 11 million cases per week in early June, this is a fifth of the estimate of 65 million cases per week put forward by Chinese respiratory specialist Cong Nanshan some time ago.

It was suggested that the difference between the estimates may be because cases that do not show signs of disease in the Airfinity model are not included in the total.

On the other hand, the company forecasts that there will be 629,000 deaths in this wave of infections. The company estimated that between 1.3 million and 2.1 million people died in the great epidemic wave of the winter months.

WAVES OF “REINFECTION”

As China abandons its so-called “zero case” epidemic prevention and control measures and adopts a strategy of living with the virus, expect multiple waves of “re-infections,” such as in Japan and South Korea, which previously implemented and they later lifted similar measures. .

Airfinity’s Covid-19 epidemiologist Dr. Tishya Venkatraman said the great epidemic wave China experienced six months ago provided large-scale natural immunity, and further progress has been made in vaccination since then. We are waiting”. Said he.

Noting that hospitals and morgues are not as crowded as in the winter months, Venkatraman said: “Although the ongoing wave is smaller, it may still cause large-scale loss of life due to increased aging of the population in China. We saw this in the last wave in Japan. Despite the high vaccination and immunity rate in previous waves, there have been many victims.” he used his statements.

THE OFFICIAL NUMBERS DO NOT REFLECT THE EPIDEMIC TABLE

There is no official data on the latest wave of epidemics in China. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stopped reporting weekly positive tests and clinic admissions after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced in early May that covid-19 it would not be considered a “global health emergency.”

Meanwhile, the CDC, which continues to report to the WHO regularly, reported that 5,621 cases were detected nationwide in the week of May 21-28.

Since widespread testing is no longer carried out in the country, the figures are not considered to reflect the epidemic picture.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 epidemic in China, with the abrupt lifting of the so-called “zero cases” epidemic control measures, which required mass lockdown, quarantine and travel restrictions, on December 7, 2022, the Cases have risen rapidly and the country is facing the largest mass spread ever seen. It is estimated that more than a billion people, representing about 80 percent of the population, became infected in the epidemic wave of the winter months. (AA)