China braces for COVID-19 wave from new XBB variant; could infect 65mn by June end

A new coronavirus variant has spread in China that will trigger a COVID-19 wave infecting nearly 65 million people every week by the end of next month, June, according to emerging reports. The XBB, a variant of SARS-CoV-2,  is spreading fast in neighbouring China in only six months after Chinese authorities scraped the draconian "zero-Covid" policy that witnessed blanket lockdowns, movement bans, and other restrictions across several Chinese cities while the rest of the world reopened to pre-pandemic levels. XBB sublineage of the omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of SARS-CoV-2 was first identified in India in August, 2022, and according to Lancet, it is a recombinant of the BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75 sublineages. 

Scientists say that the XBB "is one of the most immune-evasive strains tested," according to Lancet.

"However, whether the growth advantage of XBB was sufficient to outcompete other SARS-CoV-2 strains and drive new waves of infection was unclear."

On Saturday, May 27, however, a top Chinese epidemiologist, Zhong Nanshan, warned at a conference in Guangzhou that the “anticipated” wave of the new variant of the novel coronavirus had already begun in late April.

"China could be approaching 40 million infections per week," Nanshan warned. There are two vaccines that have received approval for the XBB.1.16 — dubbed “Arcturus” a descendant of the Omicron (B.1.1.529), as well as for XBB. 1.9.1, XBB. 1.5 strains, he stressed. Notably, he is claiming that there will be three to four other vaccines that would be approved soon to tackle the contagion, The Washington Post is reporting. The Chinese health expert warned that the new strain of coronavirus will spread and will eventually become "a cause of concern" this year across several countries from India in Asia to the US, and the EU in the West.

Credit: Lancet

China: Prepare antivirals at hospitals to prevent 'surge of deaths'

Just last week, WHO downgraded its assessment of COVID-19 saying that it no longer qualifies as a global emergency and that the pandemic is officially over. The Chinese authorities this week have rung an alarm about the COVID-19 spread, warning that while the new wave will be less severe, it could impact people with comorbidity differently. An aggressive vaccine booster programme is needed, Chinese epidemiologists have stated, adding that countries must be prepared with a supply of antivirals at hospitals to prevent a surge of deaths. 

“The number of infections will be less. The severe cases will be certainly less, and deaths will be less, but that could still be a large number,” an epidemiologist at the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health, Ben Cowling, told the Post.

“Even when we think this is a milder wave, it could still be quite a substantial health impact on the community," he added.