Nearly 90 percent of people in Henan, China's third-most populous province, have been infected with Covid-19, according to a top official on Monday, January 9, 2023. The high number of Covid-19 cases comes as China is battling an unprecedented surge in cases.
Kan Quancheng, director of the health commission for central Henan province, said at a press conference that as of January 6, 2023, the covid-19 infection rate in the province is 89.0 percent. With a population of 99.4 million, the figure suggests about 88.5 million people in Henan may now have been infected.
Visits to the fever clinic peaked on Dec. 19, according to Kan. "After that the trend showed a sustained decline," he said.
China is battling a surge in cases following the country's decision last month to lift lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing for years. The lockdown has hit China's economy and sparked rare nationwide protests.
Amid a high spike in cases, Beijing is determined to resume its reopening. On Sunday Beijing lifted a mandatory quarantine for all international arrivals and opened its borders with the semi-autonomous southern city of Hong Kong.
Infections are expected to surge to coincide with Chinese New Year celebrations later this month. Millions of people will travel from big cities to visit vulnerable elderly relatives in the countryside.
Before the Lunar New Year holiday official data showed 34.7 million people traveled domestically on Saturday, up more than a third compared to last year, according to state media. Official data showed last week that only 120,000 people have been infected and 30 have died since China eased Covid-19 restrictions in early December.
With the elimination of the zero-Covid policy and the reopening of borders, Chinese state media said that life was moving again. "Life is moving forward again!" wrote the Communist Party's official newspaper, the People's Daily. In its editorial, the newspaper praised the government's virus policy on Sunday night which it said had gone from preventing infections to preventing severe illness. "Today, the virus is weak, we are stronger."
China's state news agency, Xinhua, said the country had entered a "new phase" in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. China's top health officials and state media have repeatedly said Covid infections are peaking across the country and downplaying the threat posed by the disease.
"It's a relief to be back to normal. Go back to China, get off the plane, take a taxi and go home," Michael Harrold, 61, an editor in Beijing told Reuters.
Harrold said he had anticipated having to quarantine and some testing when he left for Europe for the Christmas holiday in early December.
The number of flights has also increased a lot. State TV station CCTV reported on Sunday that direct flights from South Korea were almost sold out despite Covid-19 in China being high. But Korean Air said it planned to increase flights to China because of Seoul's cautious attitude towards Chinese travelers.