- Nicholas Young
- BBC
The number of infections in Henan Province is in stark contrast to the numbers announced by the central government
Chinese officials said that about 90 percent of the citizens of Henan Province, the third most populous province in China, have already been infected with the Corona virus.
And the regional official, Kan Quan Cheng, revealed, during a press conference, that the number of injuries reached about 88.5 million people.
China is facing an unprecedented increase in the number of infections after abandoning policies to combat the spread of Covid in December.
The move came in the wake of rare protests against lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing.
The official did not specify a time frame for when the infections would be recorded, but given that the country’s previous policy to combat the spread of the virus had contributed to the infection cases remaining at their lowest levels, it is likely that the majority of infections in Henan Province occurred during the past weeks.
The official added that the influx of patients to clinics in Henan Province peaked on December 19, “after which (indicators) showed a continuous decline.”
The number of infections in Henan Province is in stark contrast to the numbers announced by the central government.
Official data states that only 120,000 people have been infected in the country of 1.4 billion people, and 30 people have died since the government’s policy shift to combat the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, the authorities reported three COVID-19 deaths on the Chinese mainland, an increase of one death from the previous day.
image copyright EPA
Official data showed that 34.7 million people traveled domestically on Saturday
Despite this, government data no longer reflects the true size of the disease outbreak, in light of caution regarding announcing the number of deaths from Covid, as well as the lack of mandatory comprehensive examinations compared to the previous situation.
Other local and regional officials also provided data that differed greatly from those reported by the central government.
A senior health official in the coastal city of Qingdao had reported on the eve of Christmas Day that half a million people were infected daily, and these statements were quickly suppressed in news reports.
This comes at a time when Chinese health officials said that they did not include the “Paxlovid” antiviral vaccine, produced by the “Pfizer” company, in the basic medical insurance plans as a result of the high price set by the American company.
The demand for the vaccine, which is temporarily covered by China’s comprehensive health insurance plan until March 31, has seen a sharp increase since the rise in COVID-19 cases in China last month.
Officials said in a statement that Pfizer will continue to cooperate with the Chinese government and all stakeholders to “secure adequate supplies” of medicines in China.
On Sunday, Beijing decided to remove mandatory quarantine measures for all foreign arrivals, and opened its borders with Hong Kong.
During the first wave of pre-holiday travel, official data showed that 34.7 million people traveled domestically on Saturday, an increase of more than a third compared to last year, according to state media.
Infection cases are expected to increase as the country celebrates the Lunar New Year later this month, with millions of people traveling from major cities to visit older relatives in rural areas.
Overall, more than 2 billion individual trips are expected to be recorded, officials said.