China estimates 250 million Covid infections in the last 20 days: Report

Chinese officials reportedly predicted that in the first 20 days of December, 250 million people, or 18 per cent of the country's population, contracted COVID-19 after Beijing abruptly lifted the restrictions that had kept the disease under control for almost three years.

According to a Financial Times report, quoting two people familiar with the situation, Sun Yang, deputy director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, revealed the estimates in a health briefing where estimates include 37 million people who were infected on Tuesday alone, or 2.6 per cent of the population.

Sun claimed that the rate of COVID's spread throughout the nation was still increasing and that more than half of the populations of Beijing and Sichuan were already infected.

Chinese health officials stated on Thursday that they anticipate the peak to occur within a week. According to state media reports, health officials have warned that the peak would increase the rate of infection, which would last for one to two months.

Less than 4,000 new symptomatic local COVID cases have been reported by China so far for December 22, and for the third day in a row, there have been no new COVID deaths. China announced its first official fatalities on December 19 after easing pandemic restrictions and abandoning its zero-Covid policy. The government's decision to tighten the standards for COVID deaths has drawn harsh criticism from all over the world.

According to a new rule by the Chinese government, those who pass away due to respiratory failure and complications caused by any coronavirus variant would be included in the COVID death statistics. The World Health Organization's (WHO) recommendations are violated by the counting method. The death toll currently reported is significantly lower than the actual death toll as a result of this rule.

Workers at Beijing funeral homes told Reuters that there has been an increase in residents looking to cremate deceased relatives, causing lines and delays. Workers in hazmat suits are seen carrying the dead inside crematoriums in Beijing as security guards stand outside. According to numerous reports, crematoriums now handle up to 22–30 cremations per day. Prior to December, there were only 5 or 6.