BEIJING (AP) — Nearly 90 percent of citizens in China’s third-most populous province have been infected with COVID-19, a senior official said Monday, as the country grapples with an unprecedented number of cases.
Kan Quancheng, director of the fitness commission of central Henan Province, said at a press conference that “as of January 6, 2023, COVID infection in the province is 89 percent. “
With a population of 99. 4 million, figures suggest that around 88. 5 million more people in Henan could have been infected now.
Visits to fever clinics peaked on Dec. 19, Kan said, “after which a continued downward trend was observed. “
China is struggling in some cases after its resolution last month to lift years of lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing that had battered its economy and sparked rare nationwide protests.
And Beijing is determined to continue its reopening, lifting the mandatory quarantine for all foreign arrivals on Sunday and opening its border with the semi-autonomous southern city of Hong Kong.
But infections are expected to skyrocket when the country celebrates the Lunar New Year later this month, and millions of people in major cities are expected to stop at the homes of vulnerable elderly relatives in the countryside.
In the first wave before the holidays, official data showed 34. 7 million more people fled inside the country on Saturday, a buildup of more than a third from last year, according to state media.
Official knowledge last week showed that only another 120,000 people have become inflamed and 30 have died since China eased COVID restrictions in early December.
But as Beijing last month lowered the definition of COVID deaths and mass is no longer mandatory, its knowledge no longer reflects the true scale of the outbreak.
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