Beijing, China

China is struggling with one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks the world has ever seen and it is expected to get worse. In spite of that, the Asian giant is scrapping most of its Covid policies amid the emergence of Omicron subvariant BF.7 which led the daily number of cases in the country to rise.

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Now, a new projection is claiming that the country may be registering nearly a million cases and almost 5,000 deaths every day, reported Bloomberg. 

Also read | Faced with a spike in cases China accepts Germany's mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, distributes free fever medicine

The research was conducted by a London-based firm- Airfinity, which anticipated that the situation is expected to get worse and that the current wave might increase the cases to almost 3.4 million in January to its peak at 4.2 million in March. 

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As per official data released on Wednesday, China since the beginning of December has nearly reported almost 3,000 cases and less than 10 deaths. 

However, hospitals are currently overwhelmed by the number of patients being admitted daily. 

Also read | EXPLAINED: What is BF.7, the new variant behind China's COVID wave, are available vaccines effective?

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According to analysis, residents are relying on their test reports as China has shut down most of its testing booths and has stopped including every single infection in their test reports. 

Airfintiy's head of vaccines and epidemiology, Lousie Blair said, "the official data is unlikely to be a true reflection of the outbreak being experienced across the country." He added, "This change could downplay the extent of deaths seen in China."

The authorities are further planning to cut quarantine requirements for oversea travellers from January as the country scraps off most of its 'Zero Covid' policies. 

(With inputs from agencies)

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