Covid surge in China: What’s the latest situation there? 10 points

China has been gripped by a new Covid wave mostly dominated by Omicron variant. Infections, deaths, are skyrocketting in the country. China began to dismantle its zero-COVID policy last week, following a spike in infections and unprecedented public protests. Projections have suggested the world's second largest economy could now face an explosion of cases and more than a million deaths next year after the abrupt change in course. 

Here are top 10 points on the Covid-19 surge in China: 

1) China reported 3,101 new symptomatic Covid-19 infections on Tuesday.

2) According to the National Health Commission, the country did not record any new Covid-19 related deaths

3) Alongside the risks for China, some global health figures have warned that allowing the virus to spread domestically could also give it space to mutate, potentially creating a new variant in line with how it has evolved when allowed to spread in other regions.

4) At the moment, data from China shared with both WHO and the virus database GISAID shows the variants circulating there are the globally-dominant Omicron and its offshoots, although the picture is incomplete due to a lack of full data.

5) According to Epidemiologist & health economist Eric Feigl-Ding, the doubling rate of cases in China is not even days right now as infections are doubling in hours. He says there is an estimate that more than 60 per cent of China and 10 per cent of world's population is likely to get infected over next the 90 days. Deaths are likely to go in millions and this is just the start.

6) Schools are closed in Shanghai for the next month, and in many other outbreak cities.

7) The US economy is "already being impacted" by China's latest COVID developments and energy shortages in Europe, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on Tuesday, but it is in better shape than in the past to withstand such pressures.

8) Japan will pay close attention to the COVID-19 situation in China, in addition to risks from a global economic slowdown, price hikes and supply constraints, according to its monthly report for December. "If China's infection situation impacts on supply chains or trades, it could also impact on Japan's economy as we've seen earlier this year," a Cabinet Office official said.

9) Several World Health Organization (WHO) advisors have said that it may be “too early to declare the end of the Covid-19 pandemic emergency phase because of a potentially devastating wave to come in China”, reported Reuters.

10) Amid a sudden spurt in COVID-19 cases in Japan, South Korea, Brazil, China and the US, sources told news agency PTI that Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will hold a meeting today with senior officials and experts on the Covid-19 situation in India.