People across China crowded into trains and buses for one of its busiest days of travel in years, feeding fears of new surges in a raging COVID-19 outbreak that officials say has hit its peak. | Reuters
Some health experts expect that more than one million people will die from the disease in China this year, with British-based health data firm Airfinity forecasting COVID fatalities could hit 36,000 a day next week.
She spoke on the eve of one of the most frenetic travel days in China since the start of the pandemic, as millions of city-dwellers travel to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year holiday that officially begins on Saturday. China’s internet regulator said this week it would censor any “fake information” about the spread of the virus that could cause “gloomy” sentiment during Lunar New Year festivities.
China has said nearly 60,000 people with COVID died in hospital between Dec. 8 and Jan. 12. However, that toll excludes those who died at home, and some doctors have said they are discouraged from putting COVID on death certificates.President Xi Jinping said this week that he was concerned about an influx of travellers to rural areas with weak medical systems, and that protecting the elderly – many of whom are not fully vaccinated – was a top priority.
A WHO report on Thursday said China reported a large jump in COVID hospitalisations in the week through Jan. 15, to the highest since the pandemic began. Hospitalisations rose by 70% on the previous week to 63,307, according to the WHO, citing data submitted by Beijing. “Markets widely anticipate a surge of pent-up demand will be unleashed from the reopening of China’s economy,” Nomura analysts said in a note.
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