According to data from the central Henan health commission, there may have been 88 million cases of the virus.
According to a top Chinese official, nearly 90% of the population living in China’s third largest province are now infected with Covid-19. This is despite an unprecedented number of cases.
Kan Quancheng, director of the central Henan healthcare commission, stated during a press conference that the province’s Covid infection rates were 89% as of January 6, 2023.
Henan’s population is 99.4 millions. This means that 88.5 million people could have been infected.
Kan stated that fever clinic visits reached their peak on December 19, but then continued to decline.
China’s borders were opened to China on Sunday, one final step towards the end of China’s zero Covid system. It was established last week following historic protests. It has led to a huge wave of infections.
The country is celebrating the lunar new year and the covid cases are expected to increase. Millions of people will travel to the countryside to visit their elderly relatives.
Official data showed that 34.7 million people traveled domestically during the first wave pre-holiday travel. According to state media, this is more than three times the number of people who traveled in the first wave of pre-holiday travel.
Beijing’s decision not to remove quarantine requirements may boost outbound travel. However, many countries request negative tests from Chinese tourists to help contain the epidemic in China.
Officially, China reported just 5,272 Covid-related deaths as of 8 January, which is among the lowest worldwide rates.
According to the World Health Organization, China is not reporting its outbreak in sufficient numbers. Experts believe that the disease could have affected more than 1,000,000 people.
China’s top health officials and state media representatives repeatedly said that Covid infection rates are at an all time high. They are working to minimize the danger.
The Communist Party’s official newspaper, The People’s Daily published Sunday an editorial praising government’s antivirus policies. They had moved from “preventing infection” to “preventing severe illnesses.”
“Today, we are stronger than the virus.”
China’s state news agency Xinhua said that China has entered a new phase of its Covid response.
Asian shares rose to a five month high Monday as investors believed that China’s reopening would increase global growth and revive the $17tn economic recovery.
Michael Harrold, aged 61, said it was a relief being able to fly from Warsaw.
Harrold said that he expected to be subject to multiple rounds of testing after returning from Europe.
CCTV, the state broadcaster, reported Sunday that direct flights between South Korea (and China) were close to being sold out.
Demand is limited by the small number of flights that fly to and from China at this time.
Korean Air announced earlier this month that they had stopped plans for increasing flights to China due to Seoul’s cautious attitude to Chinese tourists. South Korea now requires all visitors from China, Macau, Hong Kong, and Macau to submit negative Covid results prior to departing.
According to Flight Master data, China had 245 international flights Sunday. This is a 91% decrease on the 2,546 flights that were conducted the same day in 2019.
China News reported that China’s domestic tourist revenue would recover to 70-75% preCovid levels by 2023. However, the number of inbound and outbound trips will not reach 30-40% of preCovid levels by 2023.