The possibility of a big Covid-19 rebound in China over the next two or three months is remote as 80% of people have been infected, a prominent government scientist has said.
The mass movement of people during the ongoing Lunar New Year holiday period may spread the pandemic, boosting infections in some areas, but a second Covid wave is unlikely in the near term, Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said on the Weibo social media platform.
Hundreds of millions of Chinese people are travelling across the country for holiday reunions that had been suspended under recently eased Covid curbs, raising fears of fresh outbreaks in rural areas less equipped to manage large outbreaks.
China has passed the peak of Covid patients in fever clinics, emergency rooms and with critical conditions, a National Health Commission official said on Thursday.
Nearly 60,000 people with Covid had died in hospital as of 12 January, roughly a month after China abruptly dismantled its zero-Covid policy, according to government data.
However some experts said that figure probably vastly under counts the full impact, as it excludes those who die at home, and because many doctors have said they are discouraged from citing Covid as a cause of death.
French court halts negligence investigation into ex-health minister
Meanwhile yesterday France's top appeals court threw out a judicial investigation into alleged negligence by former health minister Agnes Buzyn in her handling of the Covid pandemic.
Ms Buzyn, health minister from May 2017 to February 2020, stepped down just after the start of the pandemic to run for mayor of Paris although she failed to get elected.
The French government's response during the first months of the pandemic came under fire from the public, with accusations Ms Buzyn had put people's lives at risk by not adequately communicating the dangers of the virus, amongst others.
Ms Buzyn has denied being guilty of negligence in her handling of the crisis.
In September 2021, complaints against Ms Buzyn from the public triggered an investigation into her handling of the pandemic by the Cour de Justice de La Republique, a special court that deals with cases brought against government officials.
Ruling on a legal challenge brought by Ms Buzyn against the investigation, the Cour de Cassation said the investigative committee had failed to provide references to any legislation that would allow it to conclude there was a particular duty of care Ms Buzyn could have violated.
"The offence of endangering others can only be charged against a person if a law or regulation imposes a particular duty of care or safety," the court said, adding that investigators failed to demonstrate such an obligation with regard to the minister.
Ms Buzyn did not immediately reply to a Reuters request fo rcomment.
France is "the only country in the world" where, as a resul tof wide-ranging procedural laws, it was possible to single out and prosecute a government minister amid a global health crisis, Ms Buzyn said in a recent interview.
Critics of the government had said the preparation to deal with the health crisis had been insufficient.
Many had filed legal complaints, which ultimately triggered the probe against Ms Buzyn.
