China’s dramatic rise in Covid-19 cases has led a senior physician at one of Shanghai’s leading hospitals to speculate that as much as 70% of Shanghai’s population is infected.
As a result of loosening regulations suddenly last month without prior notice, hospitals and crematoriums quickly overflowed with infections.
It has been speculated that most of Shanghai’s 25 million residents may be infected, according to Chen Erzhen, vice president of Ruijin Hospital and member of Covid’s expert advisory panel.
“Now the epidemic in Shanghai has spread very widely, and it may have reached 70% of the population, which is 20 to 30 times more than in April and May,” he told People’s Daily.
A severe lockdown has been in place in Shanghai since April. In the last few months, over 600,000 citizens have been sick, and many have been confined to mass quarantine centers.
It is expected that illness in the city will peak in early 2023 as the Omicron strain swept the city.
Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, and Guangzhou are among the other cities where the wave has already crested, according to Chinese health authorities.
80% of Covid patients are treated at Chen’s Shanghai hospital, which is taking in 1,600 emergency patients every day, up from 700 before the restrictions were lifted.
According to him, there are about 100 ambulances arriving at the hospital each day. The hospital admits about half of its emergency patients who are 65 and older.
