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China: 90 pc population in China's third populous province infected with Covid, says official

Official did not specify timeline of infection though

China covid testing Representational image

Officials from Henan, China's third most populous province on Monday informed that about 90 per cent of its population has been infected with Covid.

Provincial official Kan Quancheng said about 88.5 million people in the province have been infected with Covid. However, the official did not clarify the timeline of infection and whether a surge occurred in the province after China relaxed its zero-Covid policy.

BBC reported quoting Quancheng that visits to fever clinics in Henan province saw a spike on 19 December, "after which it showed a continuous downward trend." BBC reported that the Covid infection figures from Henan were in contrast with Covid figures from the central government. According to official data, just 1,20,000 people in the country of 1.4 billion have been infected and 30 died since the shift in Covid policy, the publication reported.

Beijing relaxed its Covid policies on Sunday and International passengers would no longer be required to undergo mandatory quarantine in Beijing. It also reopened its borders with Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, China's healthcare authorities declined to include Pfizer's Covid-19 treatment drug in a national reimbursement list that would have allowed patients to get it at a cheaper price throughout the country, saying it was too expensive.

Paxlovid, an oral medicine developed by New York-based drugmaker Pfizer, has been widely sought after in China since the country began phasing out its zero-COVID restrictions and a surge of infections started sweeping through the country.

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