Array
Chinese health officials on Wednesday announced they would stop counting asymptomatic coronavirus cases as the omicron variant of Chinese coronavirus rips across the country.
Since many coronavirus infections are asymptomatic, this will have the convenient result of dramatically reducing the number of infections China admits to.
The South China Morning Post (SCMP) quoted Chinese officials admitting a significant “discrepancy” has appeared between “actual and reported case numbers” ever since pandemic rules were relaxed to mollify huge protests in late November. One of the relaxed protocols was mandatory coronavirus testing on a mass scale.
China stops counting asymptomatic cases amid move to living with Covid https://t.co/5ZXJkWG5e1
South China Morning Post (@SCMPNews) December 14, 2022
Chinese officials claimed the current surge in coronavirus cases was partly the result of abandoning strict lockdown policies and attempting to “live with the virus,” as the rest of the world has been doing for most of 2022.
“The coming month will be a challenging one, and protection of the elderly is key,” said Zhang Wenhong, director of infectious diseases at Huashan Hospital in Shanghai.
