China COVID peak to last 2-3 months, hit rural areas next -expert

Medical workers attend to patients of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at an intensive care unit (ICU) converted from a conference room, at a hospital in Cangzhou, Hebei province, China January 11, 2023. China Daily via REUTERS

The peak of China's COVID-19 wave is expected to last two to three months, and will soon swell over the vast countryside where medical resources are relatively scarce, a top Chinese epidemiologist has said.

Infections are expected to surge in rural areas as hundreds of millions travel to their home towns for the Lunar New Year holidays, which officially start from Jan. 21, known before the pandemic as the world's largest annual migration of people.