China says COVID has peaked as holiday rush gets into full swing

Prior to what is anticipated to be one of the busiest travel days in years on Friday, a huge movement of people that has fanned concerns of a further increase in infections, China said that the worst was over in its fight against COVID-19.

State media reported late on Thursday that Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, who is in charge of managing China’s virus response, said the outbreak was at a “relatively low” level. This came after health officials said the number of COVID patients in clinics, ERs, and with critical conditions had peaked.

However, there are many who dispute China’s assertion that there has been an outbreak that has overrun hospitals and crematoriums since Beijing stopped conducting rigorous COVID inspections and mass testing last month.

The virus was released on 1.4 billion people who had been largely protected since it emerged in the city of Wuhan at the end of 2019. That policy U-turn came in response to historic protests against the government’s “zero-COVID” regime.

According to some health experts, more than a million Chinese citizens will pass away from the illness this year. A British health data company, Airfinity, has predicted that 36,000 deaths from COVID could occur every day starting next week.

According to Sun’s remarks, the country’s overall epidemic is currently at a low level, as quoted by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

Although the rescue effort is still significant, hospitals are seeing a steady decline in the number of critical patients.

Her remarks were made on the eve of a travel day that is predicted to be one of the busiest in China since the pandemic broke out in late 2019 as millions of city people make their way back to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year holiday, which starts on Saturday.

According to estimates from the transport ministry, 2.1 billion journeys are anticipated to be made throughout China between January 7 and February 15.

On Friday, travelers loaded trains with bags and boxes of presents as they made their way to eagerly anticipated family reunions.

Everyone wants to go home quickly. We haven’t seen our family in a very long time, after all,” a 30-year-old man with the last name Li told Reuters at Beijing’s west railway station.

China’s internet censorship authority announced this week that it will block any “false information” regarding the virus’s spread that would incite “gloomy” feelings during Lunar New Year celebrations.