89% of the population of Henan Province, China, have been infected with Corona

89% of the residents of Henan, one of the most populous Chinese provinces, have been infected with the emerging coronavirus (Covid-19), according to an official in the local health authority, today, Monday, while the country is witnessing an unprecedented spread of the epidemic.

Three years after implementing the world's strictest "zero Covid" policy to combat the epidemic, China abruptly canceled most of its health measures against the virus, and the number of infections multiplied dramatically, which put pressure on hospitals that were filled with elderly patients and the number of corpses exceeded the capacity of incinerators to absorb. .

In central Henan, China's third-most populous province, 89 percent of the population has contracted COVID-19 since Jan. 6, according to Kan Quancheng, an official with the local health authority.

Thus, out of the province's population of about 100 million, about 88.5 million people have already contracted Covid.

The official told reporters that the number of medical consultations related to fever peaked on Dec. 19 and has been steadily declining since then in Henan.

Authorities expect a new epidemic wave during the Lunar New Year celebration on January 22, when millions of urban Chinese will visit their families in the countryside.

As the festivities approached, more than 34 million trips were recorded last Saturday on the first day of the biggest traffic of the year in China, according to official figures.

China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has recorded only 30 deaths related to COVID-19 since last December, despite an unprecedented surge in infections.

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