As the virus spreads unchecked, funeral homes have reported a surge in demand for their services and international health experts predict at least one million deaths in China this year.
China reported three new COVID deaths on Monday, taking its official death toll since the epidemic to 5,253.
The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, cited Chinese experts on Tuesday as saying that the illness caused by the virus was relatively mild for most people.
“Severe and critical illnesses account for 3 percent to 4 percent of infected patients currently admitted to designated hospitals in Beijing,” Tong Zhaohui, vice president of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, told the newspaper.
Kang Yan, head of Sichuan University’s West China Tianfu Hospital, said 46 patients admitted to intensive care units in the past three weeks, or about 1 percent, had symptomatic infections.
A Reuters eyewitness said the emergency area at Zhongshan Hospital in Shanghai was packed with patients on Tuesday.
Some were on beds in the corridor receiving IV treatment, while dozens queued around them, waiting to see a doctor. It was not clear how many people were with COVID.
who meeting
Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, a WHO spokesman said a “detailed discussion” was expected about the spread in China and globally, with Chinese scientists expected to make a presentation.
Two prominent scientists and committee members who gathered on Tuesday said they would seek a “more realistic picture” of the situation in China.
But some experts doubted Beijing would be too forthright.
“I don’t think China will be very honest in disclosing information,” said Alfred Wu, associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.
“They will just keep it to themselves or they will say nothing happened, nothing new. My own understanding is that we can assume that there is nothing new… But the problem is that China’s transparency issue remains forever.”
The United States, France, Italy and others will require COVID tests on travelers from China, while Belgium said it would test wastewater from planes for the new variant.
EU health officials will meet on Wednesday on a coordinated response.
China will stop incoming travelers from going into quarantine from January 8. But it would still demand pre-departure testing.
‘Dangerous Week’
As Chinese workers and shoppers fall ill, concerns grow about the near-term outlook for the world’s second-largest economy, triggering volatility in global financial markets.