Chinese health authorities say COVID-19 infections may rebound in January

Jan 15,2024

Beijing: The number of patients received at fever clinics in medical institutions in China has witnessed a decline since New Year's Day. However, there is a possibility of a rebound in the COVID-19 infection epidemic in China in January, Chinese health authorities said on Sunday, China-based Global Times reported.

Addressing a press briefing, National Health Commission spokesperson Mi Feng said that the number of patients received at fever clinics in health institutions across China has witnessed a fluctuating downward trend. At present, respiratory diseases are still mainly influenza, and the infection of COVID-19 is at a relatively low level.

According to the recent data from the multi-channel monitoring system, the positive rate of COVID-19 virus testing in sentinel hospitals remained below one per cent after the New Year's Day holiday, and the proportion of the JN.1 variant strain showed an upward trend, Wang Dayan, director of the China National Influenza Center, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) said.

Experts believe people in China will continue to experience various respiratory pathogens alternating or co-circulating in the winter and the coming spring, with influenza viruses still dominating in the short term, according to Global Times report. 

According to Wang, due to continuous importation of the JN.1 variant strain, a gradual downward trend in domestic influenza, and a decline in population immunity, the COVID-19 epidemic might rebound in January, with the JN.1 variant highly likely to develop into the dominant variant in China.

Wang said that influenza season in southern provinces of China started in early October, followed by northern provinces in late October. In the beginning, the predominant circulating strain was the H3N2 subtype influenza virus. However, the proportion of influenza B virus in southern provinces has risen to 36.8 per cent in the past three weeks.

Source: Healthworld