Beijing, Dec. 18 (BNA): The streets of major Chinese cities were eerily quiet on Sunday as people stayed at home to protect themselves from the rising number of new coronavirus cases that have hit urban centers from north to south.
China is currently the first of three expected waves of COVID cases this winter, according to the country’s chief epidemiologist, Wu Zunyou. Reuters reported that cases could double across the country if people follow normal travel patterns to return to their home regions in mass transit for the Lunar New Year holiday next month.
China has yet to officially report any Covid deaths since Dec. 7, when the country abruptly ended most major restrictions of its zero-tolerance coronavirus policy after unprecedented public protests against the protocol.
As part of the easing of no-COVID restrictions, mass testing for the virus has ended, casting doubt on whether officially reported case numbers can reflect the full scale of the outbreak. China reported about 2,097 new cases of COVID-19 on December 17.
In Beijing, the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant has already affected services from catering to package delivery. Funeral homes and crematoriums across the city of 22 million are also struggling to keep up with demand.
ZHB