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William Zheng

China has seen a spike in Covid-19 in recent weeks, overtaking influenza as the top respiratory pathogen for the first time this year, but most patients experienced mild symptoms, while the medical authorities said data suggested the infection rate was significantly lower than last year’s peak.
The spread of the Omicron NB.1.8.1 variant has reached a “moderate transmission level”, according to the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC does not give a weekly total of new infections, but its most recent data – covering the week of July 13-19 – showed the positive rate for Covid-19 tests had reached 16.3 per cent, an increase of 4.3 percentage points compared with the previous week. Meanwhile, the positive rate for influenza was 12.6 per cent, a fall of 0.9 points.
The positive rate is the percentage of all diagnostic tests conducted in hospital clinics that come back positive for a specific pathogen.
Last month, mainland China recorded 79,000 new confirmed Covid-19 cases, including 130 severe cases and one death, according to the CDC.
The CDC advised elderly people and those with underlying health conditions to take preventive measures, such as wearing masks in public places and hospitals.
It also encouraged people with weakened immune systems, such as pregnant women, young children, the elderly and patients with chronic diseases, to get vaccinated.


The Covid-19 and influenza viruses used to be more common in winter and spring, but their spread now seemed increasingly unpredictable as the summer heat led people to spend more time in air-conditioned rooms, creating a “similar closed transmission environment”, Peng Jie, deputy director of the infectious diseases department at Southern Medical University’s Nanfang Hospital, told National Business Daily.
“The conditions for virus transmission in summer are converging with those in winter, leading to an increase in Covid-19 and influenza infections,” Peng said.
Li Tongzeng, chief doctor of the infectious diseases department at Beijing Youan Hospital, told Global Times that travel during the summer holidays could further raise the risk of transmission.

Both Peng and Li said the public need not be alarmed at the current spread as the rate of severe cases and mortality from Covid-19 had not increased proportionally, which meant that although the virus continued to mutate and become more infectious, the virulence of the new variants remained low.
According to media reports, most patients experience symptoms such as a fever and sore throat and typically recover within five to seven days.
Peng added that the current positive rate was “significantly lower” than the peak in 2025.
According to CDC data, the positive rate hit over 20 per cent at its peak in May last year then saw a steady decline to around 10 per cent by August.
Peng said that as immunity from previous infections and vaccines gradually faded, the number of people at risk of infection would increase.
He said that based on recent trends, the time taken for the disease to spread was expected to be “significantly longer” compared with last year, adding that there may be “sporadic outbreaks” in the coming months.
Earlier this month, Chang Zhaorui, from the CDC, said Omicron NB.1.8.1 remained the dominant strain in China. Monitoring had not detected any new strains that could pose additional public health risks, Chang added.


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Disease now spreading more quickly than flu, as experts say conditions for spreading the virus in summer and winter are ‘converging’


Disease now spreading more quickly than flu, as experts say conditions for spreading the virus in summer and winter are ‘converging’.


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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Disease now spreading more quickly than flu, as experts say conditions for spreading the virus in summer and winter are ‘converging’

Disease now spreading more quickly than flu, as experts say conditions for spreading the virus in summer and winter are ‘converging’