<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/23/80-of-people-in-china-caught-covid-since-early-december-say-officials>
"About 80% of China’s population has been infected with Covid-19 since
restrictions were lifted in early December, Chinese health authorities have
said.
The figure, which would equate to about 1.2 billion people but cannot be
confirmed by outside bodies, prompted some pandemic experts to estimate that
more than 1 million may have died – far more than the government’s official
tally of about 72,000.
A wave of Omicron cases engulfed China after the government abruptly ended its
zero-Covid policy last December, lifting restrictions shortly before the start
of the lunar new year and Spring festival. On Saturday, China’s Center for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said about 80% of the country’s 1.41
billion people had been infected in this wave.
In the week leading up to the lunar new year, the CDC reported 12,658 deaths,
adding to the official pandemic toll of almost 60,000, which most observers
believe is far below the real figure. Until a dramatically increased update
earlier this month, the official toll from this wave was reported as being
below 60 deaths.
Rising case numbers in December quickly overwhelmed data collection processes.
Coupled with a narrow definition of a Covid-attributed death, official tallies
soon appeared far below the reality on the ground, and the government was
accused of lacking data transparency by the WHO.
Beijing rejected the accusation and defended the zero-Covid policy and its
sudden dismantling. Some health officials have acknowledged the data
discrepancies but said now is the time to focus on the health response.
The data and transparency concerns have left experts looking for other ways to
estimate the impact of the outbreak.
Prof Robert Booy, an infectious diseases paediatrician at the University of
Sydney, said the death toll was likely to be between 600,000 and 1 million.
Booy, and other experts who spoke to the Guardian, said the virus was probably
already spreading far more widely than acknowledged prior to the lifting of
restrictions."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
