BEIJING, Dec 2,2022: Beijing faces a surge in severe COVID-19 cases over the next two weeks, a respiratory expert said, amid concerns over the potential toll and knock-on effects for the world economy after the surprise ditching of China’s tough virus policies.
Following widespread protests, the country of 1.4 billion people this month began dismantling its “zero-COVID” regime of lockdowns and testing that had largely kept the virus away for three years, at great economic and psychological costs.
The easing coincided with a jump in COVID cases that experts say will likely gather pace through winter, with projections suggesting China could face more than a million deaths next year.
China, which uses a narrow definition of what can be classified as COVID fatalities, reported no new COVID deaths for Dec. 20, compared with five the previous day.
The nation’s overall fatalities since the pandemic began were revised to 5,241.
Severe cases rose by 53 across China on Tuesday, versus an increase of 23 the previous day. China does not provide absolute figures of severe cases.
INTERNATIONAL CONCERNS
Amid doubts over China’s tiny COVID death toll by global standards, the National Health Commission on Tuesday clarified only people whose death is caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure after contracting the virus are classified as COVID deaths.
The NHC also played down concerns raised by the United States and some epidemiologists over the potential for the virus to mutate, saying the possibility of new strains that are more pathogenic is low.
