The latest internal report from China’s top health authority allegedly claims that the ongoing spike in Coronavirus infections in the country may have seen as many as 37 million people contracting the virus in a single day this week, Bloomberg wrote on Friday.
Citing minutes from a meeting of China’s National Health Commission held on Wednesday as well as persons involved in the discussions, the outlet reported it’s believed that up to 248 million people, or nearly 18% of the country’s total population, have been infected with Covid this month.
The agency also reportedly estimates that more than half of the residents of China's southwest province of Sichuan and the country’s capital Beijing have been infected since the government lifted its zero-Covid restrictions earlier this month.
No information on covid-related deaths was presented at the meeting, according to Bloomberg’s sources, who claim the board did discuss new and much narrower definitions used to count such fatalities. The agency reportedly acknowledged that deaths will inevitably occur as infections continue to spike and has allegedly sent out a warning to all regions to prepare for a surge in severe cases.
It is not clear, however, how exactly the NHC came up with the estimates reported by Bloomberg, as the agency officially claimed only 3,761 new local Covid-19 cases and zero deaths on Thursday, while putting the total number of infections this week at 14,285 along with seven deaths.
Obtaining accurate estimates has also been more difficult after Chinese National health authorities stopped announcing asymptomatic cases, after mass testing via a vast network of PCR testing booths was abandoned earlier this month, as most people started using rapid antigen tests at home to determine infection status.