January 5, 2023
Globally, total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases declared was 655,689,115 including 6,671,624 (1.1%) deaths reported to WHO. A total of 13,073,712,554 vaccine doses have been administered as of December 21, 2022.
In the month of December 2022, China announces nearly 5,000 new infections daily, and only 13 deaths due to Covid-19. Note that China has special criteria for confirming deaths, which include those who die directly from respiratory diseases caused by Corona, and not from deaths caused by corona. on its indirect effects. This method does not comply with WHO guidelines and leads to much lower estimates of the actual number of deaths, as is the case in many other countries.
China has stopped mass testing for COVID-19 and is only recording positive cases with symptoms in hospitals. Asymptomatic cases, as well as positive results from home examinations, are not recorded.
In China, there are two dominant subspecies of the Omicron variant, BF.7 and BA.5.2, and they account for 94% of all infections in a number of major provinces. In many countries, the two sub-mutants XBB and BQ dominate.
Last month, China submitted 384 samples of Omicron to GISAID, the world's largest database for tracing coronavirus strains, according to its website. However, the total number of samples sent from Beijing since the beginning of the epidemic (1,308) remains low.
The UK-based research company Airfinity stated that its statistical model estimates the number of injuries in China to more than three million per day in January 2023.
Currently, lockdowns and quarantine rules have been lifted and a negative test for COVID is no longer required to enter public transportation, restaurants, gyms and other public buildings (except for orphanages and care homes).
Chinese authorities have also stated that they will fully open borders from January 8, 2023 without travel restrictions or quarantine measures for arrivals. Many countries, which reached 17 countries as of the date of this report, have imposed some precautionary measures and restrictions, including the request for a Covid examination and isolation, and up to prevention of entry into some countries on those coming from China, due to the continued spread of the disease and the lack of clarity in the data issued in China.
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