China sees multiple COVID-19 outbreaks driven by 'stealth omicron'. Should the world be wary?

In China, the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak was first reported in 2019 and subsequently spread worldwide. The country is again witnessing a surge in cases as the nation has reported more local symptomatic Covid cases so far this year than it recorded in all of 2021.

The rise in cases triggered by the outbreaks in Shanghai to Shenzhen could be due to the fast-spreading variant commonly known as "stealth omicron".

The country's National Health Commission (NHC) said on Monday that Mainland China reported 1,337 new domestically transmitted Covid cases with confirmed symptoms on March 13.

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As per the Reuters report, the total this year so far is more than 9,000 and in 2021, the total number of cases was 8,378.

New cases have been reported in the past few weeks in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as in the provinces of Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong and Zhejiang along the coast.

An increase in cases in one country leads to a rise in the number of Covid infections in other parts of the world. But the question here is, should the world be wary?

It is important to note that the number of infections is small compared with caseloads elsewhere in the world. However, the surge has activated China's dynamic zero Covid policy.

As per the nation's zero Covid policy, infections are supposed to be quickly identified and eventually contained. It appears that the country is looking forward to taking some strict measures.

In the latest development, Shanghai has closed schools, parks, cinemas and suspended some long-distance travel amid a resurgence of cases across the financial hub.

On Friday (March 11), the Shanghai authorities announced the closure of all schools except some university-level classes from Monday. Long-distance intercity bus services were also suspended on Monday.

As quoted by Reuters, a 34-year-old Shanghai resident Loyd Ge said residentsweren't panicking but were preparing for a complete lockdown.

Ge said, "The long-distance bus station has been closed. A (COVID-19) nucleic acid test is required when travelling to other provinces."

"With these counter-measures, we’ve still run into a new outbreak in Shanghai, which shows that the control measures will be further strengthened. So we should be prepared for a city-wide lockdown as well," the resident added.

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As quoted by news agency AP, Zhang Wenhong, who is aprominent infectious disease expert at a hospital affiliated with Shanghai's Fudan University noted in an essay for China's business outlet Caixinon Monday (March 14) thatthe numbers for the mainland were still in the beginning stages of an "exponential rise".

Shanghai confirmed 41 new cases on Monday and Zhang noted that much of the current outbreak is being driven by the variant commonly known as "stealth omicron," or the B.A.2 lineage of the omicron variant.

Early research suggests it spreads faster than the original omicron, which itself spread faster than the original virus and other variants.

Zhang wrote on Monday, "But if our country opens up quickly now, it will cause a large number of infections in people in a short period of time."

"No matter how low the death rate is, it will still cause a run on medical resources and a short term shock to social life, causing irreparable harm to families and society,"Zhang added.

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(With inputs from agencies)