BEIJING: As the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday kicks off this weekend, fears of a Covid-19 explosion loom over the second-largest economy amid the festive season.
Chinese epidemiologist Wu Zunyou warned that Covid infection numbers in certain specific regions could rise during this Lunar New Year, state media outlet Global Times reported.
“With a huge passenger flow of about 5 billion trips expected during this year’s Chinese Lunar New Year, Covid infection numbers in certain specific regions could rise, but the possibility of a large-scale epidemic rebound nationwide in the next two to three months is low,” Wu Zunyou wrote on his social media account on Saturday.
After a sudden lifting of covid restrictions last month, Covid infections soared across the nation rapidly but have now passed the peak.
Wu Zunyou, who is the chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said about 80 per cent of China’s population has been infected with Covid-19.
Amid worries over a Covid rebound due to the Spring Festival travel rush, Wu reassured that although the movement of people during the holidays could cause the spread of the epidemic, the likelihood of a large nationwide rebound is small.
Wu made these comments ahead of the grandest annual event on Saturday and advised those who have not fully recovered from Covid against visiting relatives and friends during the Spring Festival holidays.
On Thursday, Chinese health authorities said that visits to clinics for fever and Covid-19 hospitalisations in China have reduced since their peaks in late December and early January, respectively.
The authorities have said that the number of Covid-19 people, who need critical care in hospitals, has also peaked.
Nearly 60,000 people infected with Covid-19 died in Chinese hospitals between December 8 and January 12, after Beijing abruptly ended its ‘Zero Covid’ policy, reported CNN citing government data.
This month, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the numbers released by China “under-represent the true impact of the disease”, regarding hospital, ICU admissions and deaths. Meanwhile, China counties have claimed that it has been transparent in representing its cases. (ANI)