China claims COVID-19 has 'basically' ended. Has it really?
A medical worker in a protective suit collects a swab sample from a man at a nucleic acid testing site, as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks continue in Shanghai, China, December 12, 2022. Photograph:( Reuters )
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The detection of positive Covid cases caused panic and the local education authorities were forced to suspend their class for four days
The detection of positive Covid cases caused panic and the local education authorities were forced to suspend their class for four days
Chinese health officials said on Thursday (February 23) that the detection of positive coronavirus cases has reduced and the epidemic has "basically" ended.
As quoted by the news agency Reuters, the officials while speaking at a news event claimed that China's "major decisive victory" over COVID-19 has set an example of prevention and control for populous countries.
China's top leaders declared a "decisive victory" over Covid last year. The official also claimed that China has the world's lowest fatality rate. However, data provided by the Chinese authorities has been questioned by experts.
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The claims, however, sound contradictory to news reports which claimed that a number of schools across China halted classes earlier this week to curb the spread of the deadly virus and other pathogens like flu to the norovirus.
A Bloomberg report noted that ten second-graders in the same classroom tested positive for Covid on rapid antigen tests last weekend in the eastern e-commerce hub Hangzhou.
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The detection of positive cases caused panic and the local education authorities were forced to suspend their class for four days starting Monday. As quoted by the report, the officials said the students were likely infected for the first time.
Besides Hangzhou, in-person teaching was suspended in Shanghai's elementary school class after four students were diagnosed with the flu and others developed similar symptoms.
Flu cases were reported in other schools across Zhejiang province, the Chinese capital Beijing and Tianjin. According to the report, the subsequent class were suspended.
A report by Reuters also mentioned that the health authorities in China found seven imported cases of the highly-transmissible XBB.1.5 variant since January 8.
Health officials said at the press briefing on Thursday that they are prepared in advance for any Covid outbreak as they had expanded to 404,000 from 198,000 in anticipation of the virus spreading to rural areas.
(With inputs from agencies)
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