The Blubber

Per FT

China has hit new heights when it comes to Covid cases, reaching a quarter billion confirmed ones in the last 20 days. In total, numbers report that 18% of the population was affected by the virus.

The estimate says that in the last 20 days, 18% of the entire population got infected with COVID-19. The estimation includes about 2.6%, around 37 million, becoming affected on Tuesday alone.

The COVID situation in certain cities and the capital of China have resulted in fewer beds available due to an influx of elderly, bedridden patients. Because of the influx, only a few ICUs and emergency room beds are left available.

After the strict rules, Hong Kong authorities said that quarantine-free travels are expected to resume as soon as mid-January.  The 250 million case count, however, ressults in doubts about the accuracy of China's official COVID statistics.

On Saturday alone, the NHC reported 4,103 new local cases, while Hong Kong reported 20,460 new cases in the span of 24 hours. Since December 21, China maintains that they have only had eight deaths, which could also be because of how COVID deaths were narrowly defined.

Despite just eight COVID deaths based on the country's new definition, crematoriums located in the country's capital are still struggling to handle a surge in corpses.

The NHC has also announced that they will no longer publish data regarding daily case tallies and that the CDC will take its place. No statement was given regarding how frequently data would be released by the latter.

John Lee, a chief executive in Hong Kong, gave a statement regarding how cross-border travel has finally started to loosen up.

Lee: “The central government has agreed to fully reopen the borders in a gradual and orderly manner,”

The estimates were revealed by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention's deputy director, Sun Yang, in a health briefing that tackled how about half the population of Beijing and Sichuan were considered infected with the virus.

Resources:

Financial Times

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