Leaked! 250 million Covid cases in 20 days, say Chinese health officials notes

A senior Chinese journalist vouched for the veracity of the document on Radio Free Asia on Thursday. He said the documents were bonafide and had been leaked by someone who attended the meeting keeping in mind public interests.

| Updated: 25 December, 2022 1:28 am IST

A few days before Xi’s re-election, a banner in the middle of a Beijing flyover that addressed him as a ‘traitor’ also escaped out in the media.

Almost 250 million people in China may have caught Covid-19 in just 20 days of December, according to an internal estimate from the nation’s top health officials citing leaked government documents published by several media outlets.

As much as China’s 18 per cent (approx) population of China has been affected by a fresh surge of Covid 19 infections. As per the leaked notes of a 20-minute meeting of China’s National Health Commission, these many cases have been recorded between December 1 to 20.

On Friday, a copy of these meeting notes was circulated on Chinese social media.

A senior Chinese journalist vouched for the veracity of the document on Radio Free Asia on Thursday. He said the documents were bonafide and had been leaked by someone who attended the meeting keeping in mind public interests.

Radio Free Asia is a United States government-funded private non-profit news service that broadcasts radio programs and publishes online news, information, and commentary for its audiences in Asia.

The surge in cases comes days after China relaxed its Zero Covid policy. It lifted several of its severe Covid policies – including forcing people into quarantine camps.

China has been grappling with protests by its citizens against its stringent Covid control policy.

In a rare show of public anger, hundreds of people took to the streets in China’s major cities last month forcing the government to roll its stringent policies back. But since then cases have steadily gone up.

Some media reports also suggested that China reported 37 million coronavirus cases in a day this week. This can be read as the largest single-day spike ever, as per a report.