In China's most populous province, almost 90% are infected by Covid!

Beijing: In Henan, China's most populous province, nearly 90 per cent of people are infected with Covid-19, a state official said on Monday. The statement that up to January 6, 2023, the infection rate reached 89.0 per cent in the province comes when the country battles an unprecedented rise in cases, Agence France-Presse.

Henan has a population of 99.4 million, and recent figures suggested that around 88.5 million people there have been infected.

Director of the health commission for central Henan, Kan Quancheng, said that people visiting clinics peaked in December but is now in a continuous downward trend.

After China immediately withdrew the Zero Covid Policy, precautionary measures like lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing were stopped. The administration withdrew it after it choked the economy and incited nationwide protests.

Further, the government is determined to go forward with reopening on Sunday, lifting the quarantine for all international arrivals. It has opened its borders with the city of Hong Kong too.

Also, the infections might surge heavily since the country is all set to celebrate the Lunar New Year this month. The festival will cause millions to travel to visit the countryside.

AFP reports that the first wave of pre-holiday travel itself has shown that 34.7 million people travelled domestically. This is more than a third compared to last year's data.

Chinese official data showed that only 1,20,000 people were infected, and just 30 died after China relaxed restrictions early last month. But, Beijing narrowed the definition of Covid deaths and mass testing, making it not compulsory, and the true scale of the outbreak is no longer readable.