A projection from a US-based institute has claimed that China might see over a million Covid related fatalities if it chooses to stick with its decision to uplift coronavirus regulations. The Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) director Christopher Murray said that nobody thought China would stick to zero-Covid as long as they did. In the report, IHME claimed that by April 1, 2023 the country will witness 3,22,000 Covid deaths.
According to IHME, Beijing decided to remove the restrictions following the rise of highly-transmittable Omicron variants which made China's zero-Coronavirus policy ineffective. Beijing in December decided to lift its strict Covid regulations after public protests. Since the ease in regulations, the country has been facing increase in cases.
The IHME projection was mostly based on data and statistics from the last Omicron outbreak in Hong Kong and the vaccination information provided by the Chinese government. In a statement after the IHME projections were released online, Murray said, "China has since the original Wuhan outbreak barely reported any deaths. That is why we looked to Hong Kong to get an idea of the infection fatality rate."
Earlier on Friday, China's National Health Commission announced that it is stepping up the vaccination process and increasing the stock of ventilators and necessary drugs.
