China heads towards 65 million COVID cases per week by June: What it means for the world

China is reeling from a fresh COVID-19 wave fuelled by the XBB version for the past few months. The Asian giant witnessed more than a fivefold surge in the number of people diagnosed with COVID-19 across the country since April. The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data showed that more than 40 per cent of those tested at the end of May were found positive, reported The Straits Times. A leading Chinese health advisor predicted last week that by June, China would have over 65 million COVID-19 cases per week. Another report put the number at 11 million cases per week at the beginning of June. The recent spike comes six months after the country eliminated its vast infrastructure for dealing with COVID, which included rigorous lockdowns, mass testing, stifling quarantines, and stringent mask requirements. So, is a new COVID wave coming for China? How concerned should the world be? Let’s take a deeper look. China’s new COVID crisis According to the CDC data, China was hit by a COVID-19 wave again in May which had a nearing positive test rate compared to the peak seen during the pandemic hit at the end of 2022. China reported 164 deaths in May among those who contracted COVID-19. Moreover, as many as 2,777 suffered severe infections and the number kept increasing during the month, as per a report published in The Straits Times. The China CDC COVID-19 data for May affirmed anecdotal evidence of a second wave that was reported in local and social media. The report came more than a month after the agency last issued a weekly surveillance report at the end of April. [caption id=“attachment_12736562” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] There has been a slight sign of extensive absenteeism at offices and factories. Moreover, the doctors reported that most of the illnesses are mild. AFP[/caption] There has been a slight sign of extensive absenteeism at offices and factories. Moreover, the doctors reported that most of the illnesses are mild. According to data disclosed by respiratory disease specialist Zhong Nanshan, who was among the first to demonstrate COVID-19’s easy transmissibility, the wave that started in late April was ‘anticipated.’ His modelling suggested China could be approaching 40 million infections per week. By the end of June, he said, the weekly number of infections will peak at 65 million. **Also Read: Why China’s Wuhan is naming and shaming its debtors** Furthermore, The Chinese authorities are rushing to push out vaccines to combat an ongoing new wave of the coronavirus that is expected to peak in June and infect as many as 65 million people a week since the new XBB variants of the virus are evolving to overcome the immunity developed after China’s abrupt departure from its “zero COVID” policy last year, The Washington Post reported in May. What effect will it have? The full extent of the latest wave in China is still unknown. A report in the US News says that the latest surge was ‘sporadic’ across the country. However, there were fewer deaths, severe cases and fever clinic visits than in the previous wave that hit after significant protests against China’s “zero COVID” policy at the end of last year. [caption id=“attachment_12736542” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] China has stopped providing weekly case updates this month, making it difficult to know the true extent of the current outbreak. AFP[/caption] Though China’s current wave will not equal the “tsunami” of cases it experienced in December and January, older people and those with underlying diseases are still relatively under-vaccinated and are at high risk for developing severe diseases, Jin Dong-yan, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong, told NBC News. Chinese CDC officials previously said that about 80 per cent of China’s 1.4 billion people were infected by the first COVID-19 wave in China. However, that immunity waned in recent months, leaving many, particularly older people and those with underlying health issues, vulnerable. How worried should we be? According to Catherine Bennett, an epidemiologist at Deakin University in Australia, the latest mutations in the genetic makeup of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have not been significantly different from the last major variant, Omicron. Moreover, the symptoms of infections are relatively milder. “It’s somewhat reassuring, thus, now a year and a half into Omicron, that we haven’t seen a major shift that’s either undermined our immunity, our testing capability, and importantly, antivirals,” Bennett told TIME. **Also Read: Why China ending zero-COVID rules may lead to over a million deaths** Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, told TIME that although only mass testing can detect the true extent of the COVID-19 surge, the population has obtained some immunity from the preceding wave. However, independent experts have been sceptical about China’s official COVID-19 figures. The Asian country stopped providing weekly case updates this month, making it difficult to guage the true extent of the current outbreak. With inputs from ANI Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.