Pedestrians walk in the Lujiazui financial district of Pudong in Shanghai, China, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023.
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The possibility of a major resurgence of Covid-19 in China in the next two or three months is remote, with 80% of people infected, a prominent government scientist said on Saturday.
The mass movement of people during the ongoing Lunar New Year holiday period could spread the pandemic, increasing infections in some areas, but a second wave of Covid is unlikely in the near future, Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention diseases , said on the social media platform Weibo.
Hundreds of millions of Chinese are traveling around the country for holiday gatherings that have been suspended due to recently eased Covid restrictions, raising fears of new outbreaks in rural areas that are less equipped to deal with large outbreaks.
China has passed the peak of Covid patients in fever clinics, emergency rooms and in critical conditions, a National Health Commission official said on Thursday.
Nearly 60,000 people with Covid had died in hospital as of January 12, roughly a month after China abruptly ended its zero-Covid policy, according to government figures.
But some experts said that figure likely greatly underestimates the full impact because it excludes those who die at home and because many doctors have said they are reluctant to cite Covid as a cause of death.
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