China Covid wave's peak to last 2-3 months, expert says with a dire warning
Covid In China: The holidays officially start from January 21 and are also referred to as the world's largest annual migration of people.
Covid wave's peak in China is expected to last two to three months and will have a massive impact on rural parts of the country, a top Chinese epidemiologist warned. Cases will rise in rural areas as many Chinese are set to travel to their home towns for the Lunar New Year holidays. The holidays officially start from January 21 and are also referred to as the world's largest annual migration of people.
Read more: Why are you fooling around: Watch Vladimir Putin scold his deputy over deals
Zeng Guang, the former chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the worst of the Covid outbreak in China is not over yet. China abruptly dismantled its strick ‘Zero-Covid’ policy last month after protests across the country in late November. Following this the virus has spread in most provinces of China.
"Our priority focus has been on the large cities. It is time to focus on rural areas," Zeng Guang said as per Reuters adding that most people living in China's rural areas do not have access to medical facilities which could further exacerbate the Covid situation in the country.
China has been returning to normal life much after most of the world began to live with the virus. In China's big cities, residents are on the move leading to a gradual, though so far slow, rebound in consumption and economic activity, Reuters reported quoting an immigration official who said that on Friday 490,000 daily trips on average were made in and out of China.
This comes as the World Health Organization this week warned of the risks stemming from travelling during the holidays and questions have been raised on data sharing by Beijing on Covid.
