NY.- Since China abandoned its restrictive “zero covid” policy about two weeks ago, the intensity and scale of the country’s first national outbreak has remained a mystery. With the country ending mass testing, case counts are less useful. The government has a limited definition of which deaths should be counted as being caused by Covid. Anecdotal evidence, such as social media posts of hospital morgues overflowing with body bags, is quickly removed by censors.
Now, a picture is emerging of the virus spreading like wildfire.
One province and three cities have reported Covid estimates that far exceed official figures in recent days. At a press conference on Sunday, an official in Zhejiang province, home to 65 million people, estimated that daily covid cases had exceeded 1 million.
In the eastern city of Qingdao, population 10 million, a health minister said last Friday there were about half a million new cases each day, a number he expected to rise sharply in the coming days, local news sites reported.
