As the Covid-19 cases in China are seeing a huge surge due to the new sub-variant of Omicron, BF.7, it feels like deja vu. By the end of 2019, Covid cases were being seen only in China's Wuhan and not many were considering it to be a serious threat.
But the coronavirus turned into one of the worst pandemics ever and caused millions of deaths around the world and changed the way we live our lives. So it is very normal for people to panic when they see videos from China and warnings from epidemiologists about another Covid wave.
Warnings from epidemiologists: What has made the rest of the world worried is that an epidemiologist, Eric Feigl-Ding, has made some big claims. He has said that due to the surge in Covid cases in China, deaths are likely to be more than a million.
⚠️THERMONUCLEAR BAD—Hospitals completely overwhelmed in China ever since restrictions dropped. Epidemiologist estimate >60% of 🇨🇳 & 10% of Earth’s population likely infected over next 90 days. Deaths likely in the millions—plural. This is just the start—🧵pic.twitter.com/VAEvF0ALg9
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) December 19, 2022
Devastation in China: Some residents in Beijing are waiting for days to cremate relatives or paying steep fees to secure timely services, funeral home workers said, Reuters reported.
5) Example—cremation in Beijing nonstop. Morgues are overloaded. Refrigerated containers needed. 24/7 funerals. 2000 bodies backlogged for cremations. Sound familiar? It is spring 2020 all over again— but this time for China, emulating more Western-mass infection approach. 🤦🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/qppg1o6n9k
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) December 19, 2022
Hospitals in China are overwhelmed ever since the zero-Covid restrictions were dropped. A Twitter thread shows how a girl went to three hospitals but didn't get a bed and her father died.
1. Sorry, no time to do English subtitles, but here is a summary of what this girl in #Beijing says: On Dec 17, My dad was very sick. We went to 3 hospitals to no avail. 1st hospital is Chaoyang Hospital. Minimum waiting time 4 hours. We had to go to 2nd one, Huayin Hospital. pic.twitter.com/h1hzZ0wXnS
— Jennifer Zeng 曾錚 (@jenniferzeng97) December 19, 2022
What is BF.7? The BF.7 is an abbreviated form for BA.5.2.1.7. It is a sub-variant of the BA.5 Omicron variant of Covid. The BF.7 variant is reportedly more infectious than the other variants of coronavirus known so far.
Situation in India: India has so far reported four cases of BF.7 since July. These cases were confirmed by official sources in the health ministry on Wednesday (December 21). While three have been detected in Gujarat, one case has been traced to Odisha.
What is India doing? PM Narendra Modi will review the situation related to Covid-19 in the country at a high-level meeting today (December 22) afternoon.
What led to the surge in China: The Covid spike happened after the Chinese government's decision to lift the strict restrictions, including quarantine and isolation protocols. The zero-Covid policy had almost insulated China's 1.4 billion people but it had also led to huge protests in the country.
The protests started in late November in Chinese cities after the containment measures were blamed for deaths after a fire in the Xinjiang region.
WHO 'very concerned': At a press briefing on Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency is "very concerned" about rising reports of severe coronavirus disease across China but needs more information on the severity in China, particularly regarding hospital and intensive care unit admissions.
"WHO is very concerned over the evolving situation in China with increasing reports of severe disease," Tedros said. He also that while Covid deaths have dropped more than 90% since their global peak.