Epidemiologists predict at least three waves of Covid to hit China during winter

Is the Chinese government losing control over COVID-19 management as the cases continue to increase in China?

Epidemiologists predict at least three waves of the virus to hit the country during winter. It is certain that the Chinese government was “under-prepared” as it decided to end its zero-COVID policy abruptly after people held protests across the country, The Hong Kong Post reported.

The Chinese government has so far remained silent on the number of deaths. However, the Chinese authorities have warned of successive waves of COVID infections in the coming months, as cases continue to increase after the lifting of restrictions earlier this month.

Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said “the current outbreak would peak this winter and run in three waves for about three months,” The Hong Kong Post reported citing state media report of his speech. Wu Zunyou made the remarks at a press conference in Beijing.

According to Wu, the “first wave would run from now until mid-January. A second wave would likely follow soon after, triggered by the mass travel of hundreds of millions of people across the country for the Lunar New Year starting on 21 January.”

He has predicted that China will face a “third wave from late February to mid-March after people returned to work from the holidays,” as per the news report. The wave is expected to be triggered by the mass travel ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which falls on January 21 as people travel to their hometowns to celebrate the day.

Notably, the work in hospitals in China has been slowing down as they face twin problems – running out of beds due to a large number of patients and health officials getting infected, The Hong Kong Post reported citing western media reports. Meanwhile, pharmacies are running out of stock due to an increase in demand and have a scant possibility of replenishment.