The number of patients received at fever clinics in medical institutions across the country has shown a fluctuating decline since the New Year's Day, but there is a possibility of a rebound in the COVID-19 infection epidemic in China in January, according to Chinese health authorities on Sunday.
Mi Feng, a spokesperson with the National Health Commission, said at a Sunday press briefing that since the beginning of 2024, the number of patients received at fever clinics in medical institutions across the country has shown a fluctuating downward trend. At present, respiratory diseases are still mainly influenza, and the infection of COVID-19 is at a relatively low level, with the overall medical services currently stable and orderly.
Recent data from the multi-channel monitoring system showed that the positive rate of COVID-19 virus testing in sentinel hospitals remained below one percent after the New Year's Day holiday, and the proportion of the JN.1 variant strain showed an upward trend, said Wang Dayan, director of the China National Influenza Center, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC).
Experts believe China will continue to experience various respiratory pathogens alternating or co-circulating this winter and in the coming spring, with influenza viruses still dominating in the short term. Due to continuous importation of the JN.1 variant strain, a gradual decrease in domestic influenza, and a decline in population immunity, the COVID-19 epidemic may rebound in January, with the JN.1 variant highly likely to develop into the dominant variant in China, according to Wang.
