"China Estimates 16,000 Daily COVID Deaths, Surpassing US Pandemic Peak"

On the 6th, citizens wearing masks are waiting for a train at Beijing West Railway Station in China. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] As COVID-19 rapidly spreads following China's sudden easing of quarantine measures, it has been identified that the number of deaths currently exceeds those during the major outbreak in the United States two years ago.

According to the American current affairs weekly Newsweek on the 5th (local time), British health data analysis firm Airfinity estimated in a report that the current number of COVID-19 infections in China reaches 2.42 million per day, with deaths totaling 15,850 daily. Since December 1 of last year, the cumulative COVID-19 death toll is estimated at 192,400.

This estimate surpasses the worst COVID-19 outbreak period in the United States in January 2021. At that time, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. was 23,387 in one week. Considering China's population size of 1.41 billion, approximately 4.25 times that of the U.S. (330 million), the current estimated COVID-19 death toll in China exceeds the U.S. figure from two years ago by more than 4.74 times.

Furthermore, Airfinity projected that this outbreak in China will peak on the 13th, with daily infections soaring to 3.7 million. The death toll is expected to peak about ten days later, increasing to 25,000 per day, and at the second peak on March 3, daily infections could reach 4.2 million, with cumulative deaths from last month through April expected to reach 1.7 million.