China reported nearly 13,000 Covid-related deaths in hospitals between January 13 and 19, after a top health official said the vast majority of the population had already been infected.
The death toll came a week after China said nearly 60,000 people had died with Covid in hospitals in just over a month – but there has been widespread skepticism over the official data since Beijing abruptly removed virus checks last month.
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement Saturday that 681 hospitalized patients died of respiratory failure caused by coronavirus infection, and 11,977 died of other illnesses associated with infection during the period.
Figures do not include people who died at home.
Airfinity, an independent forecasting company, has estimated daily Covid deaths in China will peak at around 36,000 during the Lunar New Year holiday.
The firm also estimated that more than 600,000 people have died from the disease since China abandoned the zero-Covid policy in December.
China has passed the peak period of Covid patients in fever clinics, emergency rooms and with critical conditions, Guo Yanhongan official of the National Health Commission said Thursday at a press conference.
Tens of millions of people have traveled across the country in recent days for a long-awaited reunion with families on Sunday’s Lunar New Year, raising fears of further outbreaks.
Chinese transport authorities have predicted that more than two billion trips will be made this month through February, in one of the largest mass movements of people in the world.
President Xi Jinping on Wednesday expressed concern about the spread of the virus in rural China, much of which lacks medical resources.
But a senior health official said China would not experience a second wave of infections in the months following the festive migration because nearly 80% of the population had already been infected with the virus.
“Although a large number of people traveling during the Spring Festival may promote the spread of the epidemic to some extent…the current wave of the epidemic has already infected about 80 percent of the country’s population,” he said. he added. Wu ZunyouCDC’s chief epidemiologist, said in a post on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform on Saturday.
“In the short term, for example, in the next two to three months, the possibility of a second wave of the epidemic across the country is very low.”
Residents of Wuhan in central China, where the first coronavirus infections were reported in late 2019, celebrated the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit on Saturday night with fireworks, flowers and offerings to loved ones they have lost to the virus.
The death toll came a week after China said nearly 60,000 people had died with Covid in hospitals in just over a month – but there has been widespread skepticism over the official data since Beijing abruptly removed virus checks last month.
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement Saturday that 681 hospitalized patients died of respiratory failure caused by coronavirus infection, and 11,977 died of other illnesses associated with infection during the period.
Figures do not include people who died at home.
Airfinity, an independent forecasting company, has estimated daily Covid deaths in China will peak at around 36,000 during the Lunar New Year holiday.
The firm also estimated that more than 600,000 people have died from the disease since China abandoned the zero-Covid policy in December.
China has passed the peak period of Covid patients in fever clinics, emergency rooms and with critical conditions, Guo Yanhongan official of the National Health Commission said Thursday at a press conference.
Tens of millions of people have traveled across the country in recent days for a long-awaited reunion with families on Sunday’s Lunar New Year, raising fears of further outbreaks.
Chinese transport authorities have predicted that more than two billion trips will be made this month through February, in one of the largest mass movements of people in the world.
President Xi Jinping on Wednesday expressed concern about the spread of the virus in rural China, much of which lacks medical resources.
But a senior health official said China would not experience a second wave of infections in the months following the festive migration because nearly 80% of the population had already been infected with the virus.
“Although a large number of people traveling during the Spring Festival may promote the spread of the epidemic to some extent…the current wave of the epidemic has already infected about 80 percent of the country’s population,” he said. he added. Wu ZunyouCDC’s chief epidemiologist, said in a post on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform on Saturday.
“In the short term, for example, in the next two to three months, the possibility of a second wave of the epidemic across the country is very low.”
Residents of Wuhan in central China, where the first coronavirus infections were reported in late 2019, celebrated the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit on Saturday night with fireworks, flowers and offerings to loved ones they have lost to the virus.
