Covid-19 cases declining across China, health authorities say
- Visits to fever clinics ‘at low level’ in week from January 21 and down 40 per cent from previous seven days, according to NHC expert
- But HKU virologist says it’s too early to reach a conclusion about the latest wave, and the full picture isn’t clear without the relevant data
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Fu Wei, a specialist with the National Health Commission, said the number of visits to rural and community health centres and clinics had fallen significantly.
She told a State Council press briefing that trips to fever clinics had been “at a low level” in the week from January 21. Fu said visits to the clinics were down by 40 per cent compared to the previous week, and down by 94 per cent from the peak recorded on December 23.
China has been grappling with a surge in cases since Beijing abruptly abandoned its zero-Covid policy in early December – scrapping pandemic controls including mass testing, centralised quarantine and lockdowns. The rapid spread of the virus and a sharp rise in Covid-related deaths have raised questions over whether the country was adequately prepared to reopen.
Over the weekend, health authorities also reported a sharp drop in Covid-related deaths among hospital patients over the Lunar New Year holiday, mirroring trends in hospitalisations and severe illness.
China recorded 6,364 Covid-related deaths from January 20 to 26 – about half the number in the previous week, according to the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
Other indicators suggest the country might have turned a corner in the current wave.
While that number was up by 71.2 per cent from last year, it was still 46.4 per cent lower than the pre-pandemic level in 2019, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said.
Chen Cao, a researcher with the China CDC, told Monday’s briefing that the situation was still being monitored since the Lunar New Year travel season is not over and students would soon be returning to universities for the spring term.
“We will continue to monitor the situation of the coronavirus and [the development of] variants, especially among people in outpatient and emergency departments at designated [Covid-19] hospitals, as well as deaths, severe cases and those among inbound travellers,” he said. “This will alert us so that we can take early, precautionary measures.”
Jin Dongyan, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong, cautioned that it was too early to draw any conclusion about the latest wave.
He said the full picture was not clear since the authorities had not released all the relevant data.
“There’s been some indirect indications [of an end], such as the rate of positive cases detected from tourists entering other countries and regions is decreasing,” he said.
Other health experts have said China could face more outbreaks in the coming months, as has happened in other countries.
Prominent Shanghai infectious disease specialist Zhang Wenhong said early this month that the country could see another wave in May and June. But he estimated the infection rate could fall below 50 per cent, with most cases likely to be mild or asymptomatic.
Additional reporting by Hayley Wong
