Omicron wave of coronavirus that would swamp intensive care capacity. The study predicted that if the government lifts the restriction, the Omicron variant of Covid-19 could lead to 112.2 million symptomatic cases, 5.1 million hospital admissions, and 1.6 million deaths, with the major wave occurring between May and July.
Shanghai reported 1,487 new infections for Tuesday, down from 3,014 on Monday. No cases were found outside quarantine. Authorities have indicated they need to see three consecutive days of no community spread before they start easing curbs that have kept millions of people inside their homes for more than a month.
The research comes as World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus calls on China to rethink its zero-tolerance strategy, saying the approach no longer makes sense as the omicron variant spreads and the country’s economy suffers. “We don’t think that it is sustainable, considering the behavior of the virus now and what we anticipate in the future," Tedros said in a briefing on Tuesday.
President Xi Jinping has clung to China’s tough Covid strategy, tightening pandemic restrictions in Shanghai and expanding a mass testing sweep in Beijing.