China Covid infection surge puts end of global emergency in doubt – WHO

It may be too early to declare the global end of the Covid-19 pandemic emergency because of a potentially devastating wave to come in China, according to several leading scientists and World Health Organizationadvisers. Their views represent a shift since China began to dismantle its zero-Covid policy last week after a spike in infections and unprecedented public protests. Projections have suggested the world’s second-largest economy could face more than a million deaths in 2023 after the abrupt change in course.

China’s zero-Covid approach kept infections and deaths comparatively low among the population of 1.4 billion, but a relaxation in rules has changed the global picture, experts said. “The question is whether you can call it post-pandemic when such a significant part of the world is actually just entering its second wave,” said Dutch virologist Marion Koopmans, who sits on a WHO committee tasked with advising on the status of the Covid emergency.

“It’s clear that we are in a very different phase [of the pandemic], but in my mind, that pending wave in China is a wild card.”

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