Beijing reports nearly 13,000 hospital Covid deaths in one week

China on Saturday reported nearly 13,000 Covid-19 deaths in hospital between January 13 and 19, a senior health official said, with the vast majority already infected. The Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted that during this period, 681 patients died in hospital from respiratory complications due to Covid and 11,977 died from other illnesses linked to the virus. This data does not include deaths from coronavirus at home.

In mid-January, more than a month after health restrictions were lifted, China reported about 60,000 Covid-related deaths in medical institutions across the country between December 8, 2022 and January 12, 2023.An understatement for many viewers.

According to British medical analytics firm Airfinity, the daily number of Covid deaths in China is expected to rise to around 36,000 during the Lunar New Year holiday. Airfinity also estimates that more than 600,000 people have died from the disease since China lifted restrictions in December.

Tens of thousands of people have traveled across the country in recent days to reunite with families for New Year’s celebrations this Sunday, raising the risk of a new spike in pollution numbers. Chinese transport officials predict that more than two billion journeys will end in February.

But while these movements may encourage transmission, “the current wave of epidemics has already affected 80% of the population in the country,” CDC chief epidemiologist Wu Zunyou said Saturday. According to him, “in the short term, for example, in the next two or three months, the possibility of a second epidemic wave in the country is very small”.