China declares COVID outbreak easing ahead of travel rush

By Bernard Orr, Liz Lee

BEIJING, (Reuters) – China claimed the worst in its fight against COVID-19. The announcement comes ahead of Friday’s busiest travel day in years. A mass movement of people has fueled fears of a surge in infection.

Vice Premier Sun Chunlan is responsible for China’s virus response. He stated that the outbreak was at a “relatively lower” level. This statement was made late Thursday by state media. It came after health officials reported that COVID patients were now in hospitals, emergency rooms, and those with severe conditions.

However, there are many doubts about China’s account of the epidemic that has overflowed hospitals in China since Beijing abandoned strict COVID control and mass testing last month. After protests against the antiCOVID policy, the virus was unleashed upon its 1.4billion population.

Experts predict that more than a million Chinese will die from the disease this year. British health data firm Airfinity expects that COVID deaths could reach 36,000 per day next week.

Sun reported that the pandemic overall in the country was at a low level recently in comments made by state-run Xinhua news agency.

“The number critical patients in hospitals is steadily decreasing, although the rescue mission is still very heavy.”

These comments were made on Saturday, which is the official start of the Lunar New Year holidays in China.

President Xi Jinping spoke out this week about his concern over the influx in rural areas with poor medical systems and said that protecting seniors – many who aren’t fully vaccinated – was his top priority.

According to a World Health Organization report, China saw a significant increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations from the week ending Jan. 15 to January 15, which is the highest level since the pandemic started.

According to the WHO, which cited data provided by Beijing, hospitalisations rose 70% over the previous week to 63.307

Officials from the health department said that COVID patients were reporting to hospital at a record high of 40% on Thursday. This is compared to a peak of 41% on Jan. 5.

China announced last Saturday that almost 60,000 COVID patients had died in hospitals between Dec. 8th and Jan. 12, a 10-fold increase over previous disclosures.

However, this number does not include people who died at their home. In China, some doctors have stated that they discourage COVID from being added to death certificates.

China’s reopening has been a disaster. However, investors believe it will help to revive its $17 trillion economy. They have placed bets that have pushed Chinese stocks and the yuan currency up to multi-month highs during recent sessions.

Nomura analysts wrote in a note, “Markets expect a surge of pent up demand will be unleashed by the reopening China’s economy.”

However, analysts warned that a decline in household wealth, as well as a rise in youth unemployment (a hangover from years spent in lockdowns) could temper the rebound.

(Reporting from Bernard Orr, Liz Lee, and the Beijing newsroom. Writing by John Geddie. Editing by Robert Birsel.