Epidemiologists in China: Covid-19 peak could be next month

Chinse epidemiologists said that the peak of Covid-19 outbreak in China could come as early as January, South China Morning Post reported.

According to the post, Ben Cowling, chair professor of epidemiology and head of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Hong Kong’s school of public health, agreed that some cities like Beijing might have already passed their peak.

“I think nationwide the peak in infections will be in early January. Some cities like Beijing may already have passed their peak,” he said.

According to the paper, given the high transmissibility of the Omicron variants now circulating in China, the increase in cases is expected to be sudden but the size of the population and the regional disparities mean the peaks may vary from region to region.

And it would take a couple of months before the country can emerge from the tsunami of infections sweeping across big cities.

Zhang Wenhong, director of the infectious diseases department at Fudan University’s Huashan Hospital, said that infections in Shanghai city might peak in a week but the outbreak would be longer.

E.M