China Admits 80% Of Its People Got COVID-19

Eight in 10 people in China have now been infected with COVID-19, a prominent government scientist has claimed, CNN reported.

Photo Insert: Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said on the eve of the Lunar New Year that the present “wave of epidemic has already infected about 80% of the people”

Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Saturday – the eve of the Lunar New Year – that the present “wave of epidemic has already infected about 80% of the people” in the country of 1.4 billion people.

Research by the National School of Development at Peking University had suggested more than 900 million people, or 64% of the Chinese population, were “likely” to have been infected with COVID-19 as of January 11.

The university’s research also suggested the epidemic peaked across much of the country on December 20, about 13 days after China began easing its COVID restrictions.

His claim came amid concerns the travel rush that takes place around the Lunar New Year holiday period – sometimes dubbed the ‘world’s largest human migration’ – could spread the virus to the countryside and cause a second wave of infections.

But Wu, speaking on his personal social media account, said this scenario was unlikely as so many people had already caught it. “In the next two to three months, the possibility of a large-scale COVID-19 rebound or a second wave of infections across the country is very small,” Wu said.

China’s Ministry of Transport estimates over 2 billion passenger trips will take place during the 40-day Lunar New Year season as people across the country return to their hometowns for family reunions for the first time without domestic travel restrictions since the start of the pandemic over three years ago.

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