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Beijing’s Covid wave may have peaked but China’s tsunami of cases is months from easing: experts
- Unverified document online suggests that about 248 million people around the country were infected from December 1 to 20
- Things may not get back to normal until February or March, Shanghai health specialist says
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Covid-19 is spreading in China so swiftly that infections might have already peaked in the capital and could do so in Shanghai in a week, according to health specialists.
Given the high transmissibility of the Omicron variants now circulating in China, the increase in cases is expected to be sudden but the size of the population and the regional disparities mean the peaks may vary from region to region.
And it would take a couple of months before the country can emerge from the tsunami of infections sweeping across big cities.
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In Shanghai, Zhang Wenhong, director of the infectious diseases department at Fudan University’s Huashan Hospital, told a forum on Thursday that infections in the city might peak in a week but the outbreak would be longer.
“I think the infections in Shanghai will peak in a week and after the peak the outbreak will continue for one to two more months,” he said
02:27
Inside an overcrowded Beijing hospital struggling with Covid surge in China
Inside an overcrowded Beijing hospital struggling with Covid surge in China
Since China abandoned its zero-Covid policy, residents no longer have to undergo compulsory swab tests, making it difficult to track the exact number of infections.
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