Ciao Yahui, Head of the Office of Medical Management of the National Board of Health, stated that the number of critically ill patients reached the highest level with 128 thousand on January 5, and it was around 105 thousand on January 12.
Noting that the occupancy rate in heavy care is still 75.3 percent, Ciao said that the capacity is sufficient to meet the demand.
Ciao shared the information that 59 thousand 938 deaths occurred due to the virus in the middle of December 8, 2022 and January 12, 2023, following the announcement that the Kovid-19 measures would be lifted.
Ciao stated that the average age of those who died from Kovid-19 was 80.3, and the patients in critical condition were 75.5, and noted that more than 90 percent of the deaths were people with severe illness and 92.8% were people with chronic diseases.
2.8 million people applied to clinics
Ciao stated that the number of people who applied to hospitals and clinics with the complaint of cold throughout the country reached its peak with 2.87 million on 23 December 2022, and decreased gradually from this date to around 477 thousand on 12 January.
Health experts and officials say that the number of cases and the number of serious patients in the country is expected to remain high until the end of the winter months.
Zing Guang, the former Chief Epidemiologist of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pointed out that the Kovid-19 epidemic progressed in waves, first to major cities such as Beijing, Guangcou, Qingdu and Chongqing, and then to other regions, “Kovid-19 infections in China are probably 2 or more years old. It will be more severe for 3 months, in this case, the number of severe patients may remain high for a longer period of time,” he said.
Zing’s successor, Vu Zunyou, also predicted that 3 major epidemic waves will be effective in China this winter, with the last wave reaching its peak in mid-March.
After abandoning the strict epidemic control and precautionary measures called “zero cases”, China is facing the largest mass spread of Kovid-19 seen in a single country to date. It is claimed that more than 1 billion people will be infected during the winter months in the country with a population of 1.4 billion.
