Countries around the world, including Korea, are easing quarantine measures following the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19, Corona 19) and restoring daily life. But in China, analysis suggests that millions of people will be infected with COVID-19 every six months.
On the 7th (local time), the international journal Nature reported that as the Corona 19 pandemic repeats itself every six months in China, up to hundreds of millions of people could be infected. He referred to scientists’ analysis that such an epidemic would repeat itself due to the complete lifting of quarantine measures in China and the emergence of a highly infectious variant virus.
Ali Mokdad, professor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Analysis (IHME) at the University of Washington, USA, said, “Unfortunately, there is a risk that many people will be infected with Corona 19 from time to time and again and again in the future in China. .” A serious mutant virus will be created,” he predicted.
In China, the number of people infected with COVID-19 has been increasing rapidly since June. The cause of this pandemic is known to be the XBB.1.5 mutation first identified in India in August last year. According to a report by Nature, some infectious disease experts in China predicted that up to 65 million people could be infected with the XBB.1.5 mutation by the end of this month at the earliest.
This large-scale infection is the first wave of resurgence that occurred after the Chinese government lifted all quarantine measures in December.
The COVID-19 pandemic in December last year reportedly infected 85% of China’s population. Currently, more than 90% of China’s population has completed vaccination. However, as the immune effect of the vaccine gradually decreases, immunity weakens, and the infection rate of XBB.1.5, which has the ability to evade immunity, can increase rapidly.
“The XBB.1.5 mutation may not cause a surge in deaths and hospitalizations, but the surge in infections itself will strain China’s medical system,” Mokdad said. Qiao Yunlong, an immunology researcher at Peking University in China, said, “Unlike the large-scale infection in December, the pandemic is likely to progress over several months due to differences in immune strains.”
