A new study by researchers at the University of Macau and Harvard Medical School warns that as many as 1.5 million people could die from Covid-19 in China over the next six months following the recent move to ditch its ‘zero-Covid’ restrictions, according to a report by the South China Morning Post, which said “the number of deaths could be cut to less than 200,000 if Chinese authorities implemented public health measures to help slow the spread of Covid-19” and increased vaccination rates of elderly people with mRNA vaccines while ensuring adequate supplies of medicines such as Paxlovid, all of which have to date been made in the West.
The researchers wanted to evaluate a “flatten the curve” strategy – a range of milder, non-pharmaceutical mitigation moves that could reduce infection rates – to avoid a spike in new cases so the country’s healthcare system is not overwhelmed, it said, and if 90% of the population received three doses of mRNA vaccines and 75% of those who get Covid were prescribed Paxlovid – an antiviral treatment for vulnerable patients that reduces the chances of severe symptoms – the projected number of deaths was 190,000, the researchers said.
Read the full report: SCMP.
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