China Facing a New Wave of COVID-19 Infections

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Another wave of COVID-19 infections is likely to peak in China late June, when weekly cases could reach 65 million, as warned by the Chinese Communist regime’s top health advisor.

Chinese citizens have responded on social media that the wave of infection has already come.

The account of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) official media, China News Agency, posted on the Chinese social media platform Weibo the prediction made by Zhong Nanshan, China’s top respiratory disease specialist on May 22.

Zhong said that the peak of the next wave of COVID-19 will occur at the end of June, during which about 65 million people are forecast to be infected every week. One Omicron-infected patient can infect more than 30 people, and the infection is difficult to prevent. The focus of COVID-19 prevention and control for the next wave should be on preventing severe symptoms, the doctor said.

Zhong admitted that there was a small peak in infections at the end of April and early May, and that judging from various sources, “this is what we expected” was to come.

Patients are cared for by relatives and medical staff as they are seen on beds set up in the atrium area of a busy hospital in Shanghai, China, on Jan. 13, 2023. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

The Epoch Times reported in late April that a large number of Chinese citizens posted on social media platforms reporting reinfection with COVID-19. However, the Chinese regime’s mouthpiece media outlet quickly denied that China was experiencing another wave of COVID-19 outbreak.

At present, most COVID-19 infections in mainland China are caused by the XBB series mutant strains of Omicron. Chen Cao, a researcher at the Institute of Viral Diseases of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, recently told the media that in the first ten days of May, among the imported cases, the XBB series mutant strains accounted for 95.6 percent.

Among the locally transmitted cases, the percentage of XBB series variants has increased from 0.2 percent in February to 83.6 percent in early May. The combined percentage of BA.5.2, BF.7 and BA.2 series variants infections was about 16.4 percent in early may.

Chen stated that compared with the early Omicron mutant strains, the XBB strains have stronger transmission ability and immune escape ability.

Zhong’s most recent prediction caused a stir on Chinese social media. Netizens have responded that they are experiencing a wave of COVID-19 right now.

“Frosty White Rice,” a social media novelist and influencer on Weibo, posted: “My brother-in-law said that their company has a total of seven floors of offices, and there is no one on one of the floors who went to work last week. All of them tested positive for COVID-19, most of them are reinfections. Two of my aunties are reinfected as well.”

Many netizens also confirmed that the new wave of COVID-19 has already broken out. One post read: ”Recently, our company has begun to have a wave of COVID-19 reinfection.”

Another said in a post, “All the doctors and nurses in the department were already reinfected with COVID-19, and have just recovered from the reinfection.”

A netizen questioned in a post, “I’m a little confused about when the peak of infection is, because it feels like it’s continuing, a bit unclear.”

Some netizens reported that the symptoms of this new round of infections are still severe for some people.

One patient posted: “I am in great pain now. I had a high fever of 40 (Celsius) degrees (104F) for two days, and now I’m still having a low fever. My whole body is sore and weak. There isn’t any way to relieve the pain and soreness.”

A nurse Nurse views the lung x-rays of a COVID-19 patient at the Casalpalocco hospital, south of Rome, Italy, on Oct. 13, 2021. (ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Mr. Wang, a resident of Pudong in Shanghai, told The Epoch Times that he tested negative on May 21 but is now experiencing a sore throat and feeling unwell.

“I might be infected again, or already was. My wife tested positive yesterday and she has been having symptoms for more than a week. The leader of the company she works for still asked her to come to work and wear a mask.”

He added, “Many people in our office have tested positive, and they have gone home to rest for two days. If I tested positive, I am still going to work because we are not getting paid if we rest due to COVID-19 infection.”

He said that 20 percent of the population was said to have been infected but there hasn’t been any official reports.

Another Shanghai citizen Mr. Zhao told The Epoch Times on May 22 that two family members of his who had never been infected before have now tested positive: “They went to the hospital for treatment, but not effective. I also have symptoms. Now the COVID-19 pandemic is resurging.”

He said that the severity of symptoms varies from person to person, and it doesn’t matter much if you are young but the elderly with underlying diseases can’t stand it.

Zhao said that he was also infected with COVID-19 in late April, when he went to Beijing to petition against the local government. He returned to Shanghai on April 28.

“Our group of petitioners from Shanghai all tested positive for COVID-19 after we came back. We had been infected in Beijing and feeling sick there. The symptoms were very serious. I felt the pain caused by sore throat like being cut by a knife. I was bedridden with fever. It’s no use to take the regular medicines for this.”

Zhang Wenhong, China’s top virologist and director of China’s National Center for Infectious Diseases, also warned in late April at a conference that COVID-19 reinfections will occur after six months as the immunity gained from prior infections has worn out.

The CCP has concealed the truth of the COVID-19 outbreak in China since the beginning of the pandemic, and it’s difficult for the outside world to know the true death toll.

Xia Song and Luo Ya contributed to this report.