China’s CDC Reports Nearly 20 Percent Increase in New COVID-19 Cases
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that new COVID-19 infections in the country of origin have increased to nearly 20 percent in the past few weeks, as two new Omicron subvariants spread across the country.
However, while the infection rate in China’s official data mirrors that of the rest of the world, the number of reported COVID-19 deaths remains significantly lower than expected for a country of its population size.
According to a recent report, China’s CDC indicated a spike in the COVID-19 positive rate for influenza-like cases to 18.7 percent in late July from 8.9 percent in early July. Transmission rates have remained below 8 percent since the beginning of the year.
China’s health authority reported 203 new severe cases of COVID-19 and two deaths nationwide in July, with the prevalent strains being the JN.1 and XDV Omicron variants.
The trend of China’s official infection data parallels that of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC), which reported an increased rate of COVID-19 detections in the United States and Europe.
According to the World Health Organization’s monitoring data, the overall COVID-19 test positivity rate is above 10 percent, varying by region and showing a consistent rise.
The U.S. CDC data showed significantly higher provisional COVID-related deaths than reported in China, with 1,920 deaths in July from COVID-19 as an underlying or contributing cause.
China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has faced criticism for downplaying the true scale of COVID-19 infections and deaths in the country since late 2019.
New Omicron Subvariants
The U.S. CDC highlighted the prevalence of the KP.3.1.1 variant in the United States, while China’s CDC reported subvariants of the Omicron strains XDV and JN.1 causing the most COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.
