China said more than 12,600 people died of COVID-related causes in the week leading up to the Lunar New Year holidays, with a a health official saying about 80% of the population was infected with the virus in the current outbreak.
There were 12,658 COVID-linked deaths at hospitals between Jan. 13-19, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement dated Saturday. The country reported 59,938 such deaths between Dec. 8 and Jan. 12.
The center’s chief epidemiologist Wu Zunyou said separately in a Weibo post that 80% of the country’s residents were infected in the current round. While Lunar New Year travel may lead to uptick in cases in some regions, Wu said there is “very little chance” for large-scale infections or a second round of an outbreak nationwide in the next two to three months.
