Subhechcha Ganguly 
According to expert epidemiologists, more than 60% of China and 10% of the world’s population are likely to be infected over the next 90 days, with millions of deaths.
Covid instances have increased dramatically over the world, particularly in Japan, the United States, Korea, Brazil, and China. This comes after China caved to public pressure last week to lift nearly three years of lockdowns, quarantines, and mass testing, which were followed by an increase in cases.
China’s hospitals are growing increasingly overcrowded, and the country’s health-care system is under severe strain.
With China experiencing a large increase in cases following the lifting of the country’s draconian lockdown and testing rules, hospitals are scurrying to add beds, and crematoriums are under strain.Experts predict that the virus has infected more than 70% of Beijing’s population, causing millions of people to be confined to their homes. There is also the possibility that China is underreporting the number of fatalities, as it states that only Covid-19 deaths caused by “respiratory problems” will be included in the official death toll.
The outbreak in China is now being driven mostly by highly transmissible Omicron strains, specifically BA.5.2 and BF.7, which may also spawn new mutations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States and other health authorities monitoring the virus and its outbreak have also expressed concern about the new variants, claiming that they “enable the virus to spread more easily or make it resistant to treatments or vaccines.”In a letter, Union Secretary for Health Rajesh Bhushan asked all concerned agencies to help speed up the genome sequencing process for all Covid positive samples. Bhushan emphasised that such a step will aid in the early detection of novel variations and the implementation of necessary public health measures.
