Test Positive Again? 10,000+ New COVID-19 Cases in One Province

Source: OT-Team(G),上海广播电视台

  The recent resurgence of COVID-19 infections has once again captured public attention. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also noted the unusual increase in summer infections, calling for vigilance.

  According to the July 2024 national COVID-19 infection report released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, while the prevalence of viruses such as seasonal influenza has decreased, the number of COVID-19 infections has risen, with an increased proportion of cases. Notably, the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the number of COVID-19 cases in the province surged from 8,246 in June to 18,384 in July, an increase of over 10,000 cases. Along with the rise in infections, the proportion of the XDV variant has also increased.

  Recently, rumors circulated on social media that Shanghai Huashan Hospital had designated Building 5 exclusively for COVID-19 patients. On the morning of August 10, Zhang Wenhong, director of the hospital's infectious disease department, debunked this as false information.

  However, many Shanghai residents have reported testing positive for COVID-19 again, experiencing symptoms such as fever, cough, body aches, and diarrhea. Huashan Hospital noted that since mid-to-late June, the number of patients in their fever clinic began to rise, peaking at 150 daily visits. This number has since decreased to around 100 daily visits in August, with COVID-19 cases accounting for less than half, and no severe cases reported.

  Experts suggest that the current wave of COVID-19 infections is primarily driven by the Omicron variant. According to overall trends, the number of medical visits for this wave is lower than the peak seen in the autumn and winter of the previous year, indicating that it will not place a significant burden on current healthcare resources or the population.

  Ai Jingwen, associate researcher at Huashan Hospital's Infectious Disease Department and director of the Epidemiology Research Center at the National Center for Infectious Diseases, commented: "Since 2023, COVID-19 infections have shown intermittent fluctuations. From an epidemiological perspective, these fluctuations are reasonable for a transmissible disease like COVID-19. Therefore, this wave is a regular, manageable fluctuation of the virus."