China's National Health Commission (NHC) has announced a total of 59,938 Covid-related deaths between December 8, 2022 and January 12, 2023, the first updated figure since the zero-Covid policy was abandoned. Jiao Yahui, Director of the Medical Affairs Department of the NHC, said that the average age of the deceased was 80.3 years, with 90.1% of the fatalities above 65 years old, and more than 90% suffering from underlying conditions. China is classifying deaths of patients with a positive nucleic acid test as Covid-19-related deaths, which is in line with the WHO and international standards, Jiao added. The causes of Covid-19 deaths are twofold: coronavirus infection leading to respiratory failure and death, or underlying diseases interacting with the coronavirus leading to death, Jiao said. Among the reported 59,938 Covid-19 deaths, 5,503 were due to respiratory failure caused by the virus, and 54,435 were from underlying conditions interacting with epidemic infection, according to the NHC. The Commission added that the infection peak had passed in China.
China is speeding up the localized production of Covid-19 treatments. The U.S. pharmaceutical firm Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD)'s China branch announced it launched licensing negotiations with Sinopharm to manufacture and supply Molnupiravir in China. Meanwhile, a first batch of Molnupiravir has become available at selected Chinese hospitals. Sinopharm and MSD signed a cooperation framework agreement in September, under which Sinopharm would be a dealer and exclusive commission agent for MSD's antiviral Covid-19 medicine in China. The two sides would also negotiate the feasibility of a technical transfer under the framework so that Molnupiravir could be produced and provided in the Chinese mainland market.
Pfizer is also talking with a Chinese partner to produce its Paxlovid locally, Chief Executive Albert Bourla told media during the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. China-produced pills are expected to be available within the next few months. Pfizer's Chinese partner is Zhejiang-based Chinese drugmaker Huahai Pharmaceutical, which announced in August 2022 that it had signed a deal with Pfizer to produce the drug in the Chinese mainland solely for patients in the country. Huahai is one of the five pharmaceutical companies in China that have signed on with the UN-backed public health organization Medicines Patent Pool to manufacture the generic version of Paxlovid for supply in 95 low- and middle-income countries, but China was not included in the list of 95 countries. The pills Huahai would produce for the mainland market would not be the generic version, but the original version, according to Pfizer's CEO Bourla. Approved in China in February 2022, the Pfizer treatment is currently covered by China's public health insurance until March 31 under a temporary arrangement for CNY1,890 a package.
A Covid drug candidate SIM0417, jointly developed by Nanjing-based Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, is expected to be approved for the market in February, Jiangsu's drug management authority announced. Simcere is preparing to produce the drug in both Nanjing and Hainan. So far, three oral antiviral medications for Covid-19 – Pfizer's Paxlovid, China-developed Azvudine by Genuine Biotech and Molnupiravir – have become available in the Chinese market.
Metropolises including Beijing and Shanghai, and populous provinces such as Henan and Sichuan, have reported that the peak number of Covid-19 infections has passed and normal work and production are being resumed. The Henan provincial government revealed that the Covid-19 infection rate in the province was about 89% overall, 89.1% in urban areas and 88.9% in rural areas, as of January 6. The number of new cases is expected to remain at a low level at the end of this month, local officials said. Health officials in Chongqing said the number of people receiving treatment at fever clinics fell sharply after December 20, with the municipality passing its peak between December 12 and December 23, 2022. The number of daily infections in Sichuan province is also declining with more than 80% of residents having been infected. However, according to analysts, the number of nation-wide infections will not reach their highest point for up to two months.
Senior Chinese health officials said they are closely monitoring viral mutations and the spread of the XBB variant. Liang Wannian, Senior Expert at the National Health Commission (NHC), said there are no universally acknowledged criteria for counting Covid-19 deaths, with some countries relying on the assessments of doctors and some counting all patients who died within 28 days of returning a positive result.
Following the sharp increase of Covid-cases in China, South Korea has suspended the issuance of short-term visas for Chinese travelers, and China retaliated in kind, effectively halting travel for tourism, business and personal affairs. China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang said that “discriminatory, unscientific and excessive” measures by South Korea and Japan had triggered Beijing’s retaliatory visa ban on the two nations. The Chinese Embassy in Seoul said the move was triggered by “South Korea’s discriminatory entry restrictions on China”. China also stopped issuing short-term visas to Japanese and threatened to take similar measures for other countries which imposed mandatory Covid-tests for passengers arriving from China. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang said “we once again call on relevant countries to make sure that their Covid response measures are fact-based, science-based and proportionate. Covid response should not be used as a pretext for political manipulation. It should not be discriminatory and should not affect normal cross-border travel and people-to-people exchange and cooperation."
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is working with its counterparts in foreign countries to resume international flights to and from China, but last week there were only 563 international flights, about 6% of the pre-pandemic level in 2019. According to a preliminary forecast, the number will increase before the end of February, and return to about 1,000 flights per week, or about 11% of the 2019 level. By the end of March, the aviation market will further recover to 15% to 25% of the pre-epidemic level, reaching 1,300 to 2,300 flights per week. The recovery of the international aviation market is expected to accelerate in the second half of this year. If the market recovers well, the number of flights by the end of the year is expected to return to 80% of the pre-epidemic level, reaching 7,300 flights per week.
This overview is based on reports by the China Daily, Shanghai Daily, Global Times and South China Morning Post.
