In China the covid skyrockets and no one knows how many die per day | The government announced a total of 59,938 deaths so far and an English consultancy 608,000.

The situation with Covid-19 in China is dire. According to Airfinity – a health consultant with no field experience – the daily death toll could reach a peak of 36,000 during the Lunar New Year holidays (January 21-27), when the largest internal migration on Earth takes place with 2.1 billion trips in over a month. This displacement already began on January 7, spreading the virus to rural areas. Airfinity predicts that the peak of this first wave of infections will occur between January 13 and 27, with 4.8 million cases per day. Initially, the consultancy had predicted two waves of infection – one after the festive period and the other in March – but now it forecasts a single wave of greater intensity around the holidays. This could lead to “greater hospital pressure” and “an increase in the fatality rate”.

Airfinity has also adjusted its data on deaths since December 1, which was previously 437,000 and is now 608,000. China’s National Sanitary Commission announced on Saturday a total of 59,938 Covid-related deaths from December 8, 2022 to January 12, 2023. The average age of the deceased was 80.3 years old, 90% were over the age of 65 and 90% had underlying conditions.

A study from the University of Beijing suggests that 900 million people – 64% of the Chinese population – have been infected since the beginning of the year. The peak of infections occurred on December 20, 13 days after the restrictions were relaxed. However, other Chinese experts believe that the peak of cases will continue “until February or March”.

Vaccination rates are low, especially among the elderly, as many reject it in favour of traditional medicine and felt protected by the “Covid-zero” policy, which was suddenly lifted due to protests in late December.

The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has stated that China is not providing complete numbers of Covid-related deaths, making it impossible to know the true scope of the disease. Despite empirical scientific data from the rest of the world, it is difficult to accurately estimate the numbers for the most populous country on Earth.