Coronavirus: China at risk of a winter spike in infections, experts say

Beijing is under pressure to control both regional outbreaks and imported cases, says Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention

Covid-19 pandemic likely to continue through the spring, respiratory disease expert Zhong Nanshan says

Reading Time:2 minutes

Chinese experts have warned of the risk of a new spike in coronavirus infections this winter. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:30pm, 19 Sep 2020Updated: 8:23am, 20 Sep 2020

China could face a new wave of coronavirus infections as winter approaches, according to the country’s experts.

Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said the country had already experienced four waves of infections and a fifth was possible.

The initial outbreak in Wuhan was the first wave, which was brought under control in early March, Wu said. The second was a regional outbreak created by imported cases in cities in northeastern China in April and May.

The third wave started at a wholesale food market in Beijing in June and the fourth was the sporadic cases in July in the northeastern city of Dalian and Urumqi, the capital of China’s far western region of Xinjiang, he said.

“Except for the initial outbreak in Wuhan, the outbreaks were sporadic, regional cases and they were effectively controlled,” he said.

Beijing was now under pressure to control both regional outbreaks and imported cases, Wu said.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x