China COVID: Over 88 million individuals in Henan are afflicted, according to an official

According to local health experts, about 90% of the inhabitants of Henan, China's third most populous province, are now infected with COVID.

At a news conference, provincial official Kan Quancheng presented the statistic, which amounted to around 88.5 million individuals.

After dropping zero-COVID regulations in December, China is facing an unprecedented rise in cases.

The decision was made in response to rare protests against lockdowns, quarantines, and mass testing.

Mr. Kan could not provide a date for when all of the infections occurred; but, given that China's prior zero-covid policy kept instances to a minimum, the great majority of Henan's illnesses are believed to have occurred in the last few weeks.

He claimed visits to fever clinics in Henan province peaked on 19 December "after which it exhibited a consistent decrease trend".

The Henan provincial results contrast sharply with the national government's COVID figures.

According to government figures, just 120,000 people in the country of 1.4 billion have been affected, with 30 deaths since the change in COVID policy.

Meanwhile, officials in mainland China recorded three COVID fatalities on Sunday, one more than the previous day.

However, with the definition of COVID fatalities restricted and mass testing no longer mandatory, official data no longer reflects the full scope of the pandemic.

Other municipal and provincial officials have also provided data that differs greatly from that provided by the federal government.

A top health official in the port city of Qingdao said on Christmas Eve that 500,000 individuals were infected per day. Those case numbers were quickly deleted from media reports.

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Meanwhile, due to the exorbitant price offered by Pfizer, Chinese health regulators indicated they would not cover Pfizer's antiviral Covid medication Paxlovid in their basic medical insurance systems.

Since China's COVID cases spiked last month, the medicine, which is temporarily covered by China's universal health insurance program until March 31, has witnessed a huge increase in demand.

Pfizer said in a statement that it will continue to work with the Chinese government and other key stakeholders to ensure a "sufficient supply" of the drug in China.

Beijing also abolished the required quarantine for all overseas arrivals and reopened its border with Hong Kong on Sunday.

According to official statistics, 34.7 million people took domestic flights on Saturday, the first day of pre-holiday travel. The official media reported that this represented an increase of more than a third from the prior year.

With millions of people expected to travel from major cities to visit elderly relatives in the countryside for the Lunar New Year celebration later this month, infections are expected to rise.

More than two billion individual trips are anticipated, according to officials.