The Chinese government has said that cases of COVID-19 have continued their downward trend over the past week despite travel and celebrations associated with the New Year holidays, leading Beijing to consider the December emergency over following the lifting of major pandemic restrictions.
The Chinese Ministry of Health said Monday that the number of patients visiting specialized clinics has dropped by 40 percent despite the festivities and is already 94 percent lower than on December 23, when the peak was recorded.
The number of people visiting other types of medical establishments has also dropped by 30 percent in one week, although the figure still exceeds 2 million, according to statistics reported by official media.
An official from the Ministry’s primary care service, Fu Wei, said the system worked in an «orderly» manner over the past week, although the authorities are now targeting containment in rural areas, which until now have taken a back seat to large outbreaks in megacities.
The withdrawal in December of the main restrictions in the Asian giant, which put an end to its ‘zero COVID’ policy, led to an unprecedented spike in infections. Beijing kept quiet at the time, but simulations such as those by the London-based Airfinity institute show that the daily peak in cases may have been 4.2 million.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
