Daily Mail
- Projections suggest up to one million people could die in coming months
- Experts warn it could lead to a new strain emerging and spreading globally
China‘s Covid chaos could send the rest of the world back to square one in the fight against the pandemic, experts warned today.
Hospitals have been overwhelmed and morgues have filled up since Beijing U-turned on its controversial zero Covid policy last month. Up to a million people could die from the virus in the coming months, according to startling projections.
Low immunity — down to poor vaccination rates and a lack of previous infections —is thought to be driving the wave.
The head of the World Health Organization claimed China’s dire situation shows the pandemic is not over.
Now, experts are warning the fresh outbreak, which shows no signs of slowing, could potentially have global ramifications — including for Britain and the US.
Professor Martin McKee, an expert in public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said China’s capitulation risks the rise of new strains.
He told MailOnline: ‘The pandemic is far from over.
‘And we are still seeing almost 1,300 people in hospital with Covid in England every day, at a time when the NHS is struggling with high rates of flu.
‘Until now China has kept deaths very low but has failed to use the time to get vaccination rates up, especially among older people.
