China hit by new Covid wave, cases likely to surge to 65 million in a week: Report

China will probably witness a peak in a new COVID-19 wave towards the end of June, as it may mark around 65 million infections in a week, Bloomberg reported citing a senior health adviser.

According to the report, government authorities are rushing to increase their vaccine arsenal to fight against the latest omicron variants.

Since late April, coronavirus variant XBB has been fueling an increase in cases across the country and is likely to result in 40 million infections per week by May-end before it is expected to peak at 65 million a month later, reported local media outlet The Paper on Monday. It cited a presentation given by respiratory disease specialist Zhong Nanshan during a biotech conference held in the southern city of Guangzhou.

The estimate given by Zhong has provided a rare insight into how the new wave is likely to play out in a country of 1.4 billion residents where people's immunity is waning almost six months after Covid Zero curbs were suddenly removed by the government.

With the idea that people need to live with the virus, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention has not been updating its weekly statistics earlier this month, which has resulted in question on Covid’s impact.

The estimate of coronavirus cases rising to 65 million indicates that the resurgence is likely to be more muted in comparison to the previous waves which had hit the country late last year and into January.

Authorities prepareto roll out new vaccines

In the earlier wave, 37 million people were infected by a different omicron sublineage probably every day, which sent residents scrambling for limited supplies of overwhelming hospitals, fever medicine and crematoriums.

The Chinese authorities are also preparing to roll out new vaccines which will target XBB.

The drug regulator of the country has already given preliminary approval to two and another three or four “will be cleared soon”, said Zhong. “We can lead the pack internationally in developing more effective vaccines," he added.

WATCH |China prepares for new Covid variant with up to 65 million weekly cases

The batch of new XBB-specific vaccines will further add to an increasing number of homegrown immunisations which has been signed off by Beijing throughout the pandemic. It is in accordance with a recommendation provided by the World Health Organization's expert panel last week to move away from bringing into use the original Wuhan strain in future jabs.

WestVac Biopharma, which is a vaccine developer from the western Chinese city of Chengdu, was also given the go-ahead to start its XBB-based shots' testing on humans last week.

(With inputs from agencies)

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