The Airfinity health research institute in London reported on Wednesday that the latest wave of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in China has reached a peak with an estimated 4.2 million cases per day.
According to Airfinity’s predictive model, the virus’s toll would reach a maximum of 36,000 deaths on Thursday.
Its model predicts that since the beginning of December, the virus has claimed the lives of approximately 848,000 people in China.
As families gather to celebrate the Chinese New Year, experts think that domestic travel has accelerated the virus’s spread.
Up to 80% of all Chinese people may have been impacted by this point, according to Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
This percentage of the population represents more than one billion people.
Airfinity said it was now expecting one large and long wave of infection, rather than two as reportedly earlier.
This would increase pressure on hospitals and lead to a higher death rate, it warned.
After pursuing a strict lockdown strategy for almost three years, China abruptly ceased imposing forced quarantines and widespread testing seven weeks ago.
Since then, reports have come in of crowded hospitals, overloaded crematoria and shortages of medicines.
Official figures on the pandemic’s progress are no longer being published, and figures published by the health authority are mistrusted by foreign experts. (dpa/NAN)
