Prognosis
China Faces Soaring Infections as Xi Starts to Relax Covid Zero
- Clusters of suspected cases emerge as curbs are loosened
- Residents stock up on drugs, test kits as panic buying sets in
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China is seeing Covid infections start to pick up rapidly as zero-tolerance curbs are relaxed.
With requirements for frequent lab testing dialed back significantly, anecdotal evidence suggests undetected cases are on the rise. Some health experts are predicting actual infections will far surpass the official tally. Just a week after the southern metropolis of Guangzhou abandoned the usage of Covid test results in most places, daily infections have dropped. On Wednesday, the city recorded about 2,500, down from about 7,000 before the loosening. The trend is similar in Beijing as well.