Covid-19 situation 'under control', says China as it braces for peak in infections

New Delhi: Amid a massive rise in Covid-19 cases in Beijing and other major cities, China has said that the situation is "under control". China, a country with 1.4 billion population, also said that with the coronavirus situation "entering a new phase", they have taken the initiative to refine the response measures to make them more up-to-date scientifically, more targeted and more effective.

"China's Covid-19 situation is on the whole predictable and under control. We believe that with the concerted efforts of the Chinese people, China’s economic and social undertakings will soon enter into a new stage of stable and orderly growth," said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning at a press briefing on Friday (December 23, 2022).

"Since Covid-19 began, the Chinese government has put the people and their lives first and, based on China's reality, developed timely Covid-19 policies that serve the interests of the greatest possible majority of the Chinese people," she said. 

"During the time when the virus posed the greatest danger, our Covid-19 response effectively protected people's lives and health. With the Covid-19 situation entering a new phase, we have taken the initiative to refine the response measures to make them more up-to-date scientifically, more targeted and more effective," Ning said.

Amid reports of a shortage of fever and cold drugs medicines in China, she stated there is an "expanded production" capacity of medical supplies, which, at the moment, are generally "in adequate supply". 

On sharing information with the world about what they're experiencing, she said that China has "always" shared its information responsibly with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the international community. 

"We stand ready to work with the international community in solidarity, tackle the Covid-19 challenge more effectively, better protect people's lives and health and jointly restore steady economic growth and build a global community of health for all," Ning said.

China’s COVID situation is predictable and under control. pic.twitter.com/YmLfsS9eGT — Spokesperson发言人办公室 (@MFA_China) December 23, 2022

Her statement came two days after WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the UN agency needs more information on Covid-19 severity in China, particularly regarding hospital and intensive care unit admissions, "in order to make a comprehensive risk assessment of the situation on the ground." 

Analysts fear China will pay a price for letting Covid-19 rip through a population that lacks "herd immunity", after long periods of enforced isolation under lockdown, and has low vaccination rates among the elderly.

In the face of a surging outbreak and widespread protests against its "zero-Covid" regime of lockdowns and testing, China began dismantling it earlier this month, becoming the last major country to move towards living with the virus.

China expecting a peak in Covid-19 infections within a week

A health official said that China is expecting a peak in Covid-19 infections within a week.

"The peak infection will also increase the rate of severe disease, which will have a certain impact on our entire medical resources," Zhang Wenhong, director of the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, was quoted in Shanghai government-backed news outlet The Paper on Thursday.

He added that the Covid-19 wave will last another one or two months after that.

"We must be mentally prepared that infection is inevitable," Wenhong said.

Chinese state media Qingdao Daily late on Friday cited a health official in the eastern city of Qingdao as saying coronavirus was in rapid transmission stage in the city with 490,000-530,000 new daily infections, which was set to increase at a rate of 10% in the next couple of days.

Nearly 37 million people in China may have been infected with the virus on a single day this week, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing estimates from the government's top health authority.

Infections in China are likely to be more than a million a day with deaths at more than 5,000 a day, in "stark contrast" with official data, British-based health data firm Airfinity said this week.