The latest situation of the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) outbreak in mainland China is once again heating up. According to official data, the number of infections in Guangdong Province in July was 18,384, which is more than 10,000 cases higher than the previous month. However, experts from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claim there is no need to worry, triggering skepticism among internet users.
The “Overview of Legal Infectious Disease Epidemic Situation in the Province” for June and July 2024 released by the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the number of COVID-19 infections in Guangdong Province was 8,246 in June and 18,384 in July, an increase of over 10,000 cases.
Additionally, according to the CCP’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in the national report on the COVID-19 situation in July released on August 8th, there were 203 new severe cases and 2 deaths reported from July 1st to July 31st across 31 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
The report revealed that the positivity rate for COVID-19 in China was 8.9% from July 1st to July 7th, but it had increased to 18.7% from July 22nd to July 28th, showing an upward trend in COVID-19 positivity rates.
Furthermore, the report indicated that the effective genomic sequences of COVID-19 cases in July were from the Omicron variant strain, with the main circulating strains being the JN.1 variant lineage and the XDV variant lineage. The proportion of the XDV variant lineage increased from 25.1% in June to 38.8%-43.6% in July, a rise of around 10%.
In response to this, CCP experts stated that the current surge in COVID-19 infections is a normal peak and there is no need to panic as the virus is weaker, showing no significant clustering within families, indicating a decrease in its infectivity.
Due to the CCP’s tendency to conceal the outbreak, such statements have been heavily questioned by the public. Some internet users criticized, “It’s just nonsense! The so-called ‘experts’ talk about turning points, predictions, and end dates, which are completely erroneous; when the COVID-19 virus began to mutate, a certain ‘expert’ even within a month said ‘…xx virus… no need to be overly concerned…’ followed by ‘xx virus has particularly strong transmissibility, everyone must be highly vigilant’ less than 15 days later, showing contradictory statements.”
Recently, there have been messages circulating on WeChat moments that “Huashan Hospital has cleared the 5th floor to exclusively treat COVID-19 patients.” Some netizens commented, “If you say 100,000, I believe it, because the hospital is always full every day.”
Others sarcastically remarked, “The pharmaceutical industry is going to start reaping profits again. Sell off the stock medications.”