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Dec. 18 (UPI) -- COVID-19 is prevalent in Mainland China despite fewer confirmed cases and no deaths since Dec. 7, though asymptomatic infections no longer are tracked in the nation in which the virus emerged nearly three years ago. Meanwhile, worldwide infections rose 2%, one week after a 3% drop to 3,683,693 for a cumulative 657,784,175 Sunday. Fatalities were down 7% for 10,425 for a total 6,671,838, according to Worldometers.info.
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The data in China now are not representative of what is going on in the nation of 1.5 billion people, as only confirmed cases from public testing places are being released with asymptomatic numbers halted Wednesday. The record was 39,791 21 days ago when there were 3,709 confirmed ones.
The National Health Commission posted Wednesday: "The present policy for COVID-19 nucleic acid testing is that it is voluntary. It's impossible to get accurate statistics for asymptomatic cases given the fact that many asymptomatic cases choose not to take nucleic acid tests."
On Sunday, China reported 2,097 cases for a total of 378,458 in 98th place worldwide. China's record is 5,659 on April 29, not counting 14,108 on Feb. 8, 2020 early in record reporting.
For two weeks, deaths remained at 5,235, in 89th place worldwide. Before a spike in April, which necessitated a lockdown, it was 4,636, which stayed at that number since early February 2021.
Until two weeks ago, China had maintained a "zero tolerance" for coronavirus.
China loosened its stringent COVID-19 controls for the first time in three years after widespread protests against the draconian policies broke out across the country and escalated into calls for greater freedom.
As part of a new 10-point guideline released by China's National Health Commission, large-scale lockdowns will be curtailed and people with mild or no symptoms will be allowed to isolate at home rather than being forced into government camps.
Frequent COVID-19 tests and health verification apps will also no longer be necessary to enter most public facilities, except for elderly care homes, medical institutions, and primary and secondary schools.
After the easing, the virus is spreading through the nation's biggest cities.
An amateur statistician known as Chenqin, who has analyzed online search trends, estimated that 39% of those in Beijing had been infected.
A online survey started on Thursday by the state-owned Beijing News found that 45% of 114,000 respondents had COVID-19 or had already recovered from it.
Office workers are now working from home and factories have staffing issues.
"One after another tested positive," the boss of a printed circuit board factory in the eastern province of Shandong told the Financial Times. " I'm worried that I will have to shut the factory down."
Only 20% of the staff came to work Friday.
And a manager at a car assembly plant in the northern province of Hebei said they will institute a "closed loop" system in staff live and work on-site during Covid outbreaks.
"We will have no workers left otherwise," he said.
Production is rebounding at Apple contract manufacturer Foxconn's Zhengzhou campus - the world's largest iPhone factory. Daily PCR testing at the plant has been scrapped.
Streets are empty except long lines outside COVID-19 clinics.
Residents of Shanghai, Shenzhen and other cities reported pharmacies have sold out of fever medicine and coronavirus tests.
"My high fever is gone, but I'm swallowing razor blades now," Lindsay Feng, a tech worker, who tested positive at home on Saturday, told the Financial Times.
She said eight of 21 in her apartment complex had contracted the virus in the past 10 days.
Besides a demand for fever and cold medicines, people are buying canned yellow peaches, considered a nutritious delicacy in many parts of China.
The company Dalian Leasun Food wrote in a Weibo post that canned yellow peaches don't have any medicinal effect.
"Canned yellow peaches ≠ medicines!" the company Dalian Leasun Food said in the post published Friday. "There is enough supply, so there is no need to panic. There is no rush to buy."
On Monday, Shanghai and several other cities announced they would move classes online for most students.
The nation is bracing for the Lunar New Year holiday that runs from Jan. 21 to Jan. 27 though it lasts about 40 days as people take off before and after the official break.
The U.S.-based Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation projects cases in China would peak around April 1, when deaths would reach 322,000.
China's vaccination rate is 93% with at least once dose and it will stay the way through April.
But only 66.4% of people over the age of 80 have completed a full course of vaccination, the China Daily reported.
China's domestic inactivated vaccines are 70% effective in preventing severe cases for people aged 60 and above and 95% after a booster shot, according to a study published in the medical journal Lancet Infectious Disease in October.
Hong Kong, like China, has adopted a "zero tolerance" for coronavirus with strong restrictions eased, including hotel quarantine for arrivals from other nations.
Hong Kong reported 40 deaths and 16,023 cases Sunday, the most since 20,082 March 18, with the record 79,876 on March 3.
The border between Hong Kong and mainland China is set to "fully reopen" early next month for the first time in three years, the South China Morning Post reported.
The seven-day average of 1,490 deaths are among the lowest since 1,232 March 22, 2020, 11 days after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
On Sunday, 542 deaths and 318,698 cases were reported.
Some nations do not report data on weekends. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has gone to weekly updates.
The records were 3,851,050 cases on Jan. 21, during the height of the Omicron subvariant, and 16,887deaths on Jan. 21, 2021, when the Delta subvariant was at its peak. Worldometers sometimes updates totals from as far back as the start of the pandemic.
In the past week, Asia reported 30.9% of the world's confirmed cases and it rose 17% for a cumulative 203,472,004, according to Worldometers.info. The continent has 59% percent of the world's population.
Also increasing: South America 37% for 66,144,508, Africa 17% for 12,731,342 and Oceania 12% for 13,430,309.
Decreases were North America 28% for 120,499,840, Europe 14% for a world-high 241,505,451.
Two continents reported increases in deaths: South America 26% for 1,338,950 and Asia 9% for 1,505,505.
Decreasing were Africa 55% for 258,289 North America 31% for 1,572,943, Europe 9% for a world-high 1,973,197 and Oceania 6% for 22,939.
Japan, Brazil, Germany, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Russia, Austria reported increases in both deaths and cases in the past week.
Japan again posted the most weekly cases, 1,029,587 in a 26% increase and was second in deaths at 1,575, a 19% gain.
South Korea was second in infections with 455,268, a 10% increase with deaths 324, a10% drop in ninth.
France's 396,007 infections were third in the world, with an 8% decline, and deaths were 686, a 27% rise in fifth.
The only other cases' increase among nations with at least 25,000: Brazil 47% with 299,204 in fourth, Germany 10% with 221,956 in sixth, Taiwan 7% with 106,827 in eighth, Hong Kong 28% with 106,806 in ninth, Austria 13% with 35,983 in 13th at 35,983, Mexico 34% with 32,132 in14th, Argentina 115% with 27,119 in 15th.
Decreases in the past week in descending order were United States 32% with 294,280 in fifth, Italy 34% with 130,145 in seventh, Australia 4% with 103147 in 10th, Peru 8% with 57,890 in 11th.
Among nations reporting more than 100 deaths with increases in the past week: Brazil 33% with 924 in third, Germany 20% with 918 in fourth, France 27% with 686 in fifth, Russia 1% with 389 in eighth, Australia 3% with 222 in 10th, Taiwan 14% with 219 in 11th tie, Peru 32% with 219 in 11th tie, Hong Kong 35% with 196 in 14th, Philippines 15% with 178 in 16th, Thailand 2% with 107 in 19th.
Decreases were United States 28% with 1,785 in first, Italy 28% with 519 in sixth, Britain 20% with 392 in seventh, Spain 33% with 202 in 13th, Indonesia 24% with 186 in 15th, Chile 14% with 132 in 17th, Mexico 10% with 128 in 18th.
The United States leads with 1,112,970 fatalities and 101,760,149 infections. The nation also holds the world record for daily cases at 906,788 on Jan. 7. Brazil is second in deaths at 691,854, including 24 Sunday, and fifth in cases at 35,914,141 including 11,716 most recently.
India is second in cases at 44,675,952, including 168 Sunday after 112 Dec. 12, the lowest since 30 March 26, 2020, and third in deaths at 530,672 including three most recently. Zero the last time was March 24, 2020.
India has the daily deaths record at 4,529 on May 18, 2021, with no adjustments from regions.
In the top 10 for deaths, Russia is fourth with 393,000 including 51 Sunday, Mexico is fifth with 330,795 and 52 Saturday, Peru sixth with 217,855 including 34 Saturday, Britain seventh with 198,271, Italy eighth with 183,138, Indonesia ninth with 160,398 including 14 Sunday and France 10th with 160,359.
In the top 10 for cases, France is third with 38,891,692 including 37,264 Saturday, Germany fourth with 36,980,882, South Korea sixth with 28,188,293 including world secod-high 58,862 Sunday, Japan seventh with 27,116,473 including a world-high 136,237 Sunday, Italy eighth with 24,844,034, Britain ninth with 24,089,042, Russia 10th with 21,716,074 including 7,222 Sunday.
On Wednesday, Japan reported 190,607 cases, the most since 196,628 Aug. 27, with 158,383 Saturday. And deaths Sunday were 142 after 277 Thursday, the most since 284 Sept. 4.
Japan's seven-day moving case average is 168,491 compared with 26,325 Oct. 12 and under 20,000 in early July with the daily record 255,316 Aug. 18.
Throughout the pandemic Japan has had a low deaths rate.
Japan has 425 deaths per million, which is 142nd in the nation, with the world at 855.9 and Peru No. 1 at 6,468. In cases, Japan's rate is 215,922 per million in 84th place with the world 84,37 and Austria the highest among large countries at 622,567 with France 592,433, South Korea 549,159, Portugal 547,441 and Denmark 541,073. Japan's population is 125 million.
Japan's ministry plans to enable people to conduct a wake and funeral for COVID-19 patients and to no longer ask people to avoid coming into contact with the body.
South Korea's seven-day cases average is 65,p038 but it reached 404,626 on March 19, when the daily record was 621,328 on March 17. The nation reported 66,752 cases Saturday.
South Korea's fatalities Sunday were 42.
The nation's last remaining mandate is mask wearing indoors. On Friday, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency plans to give a briefing on its indoor mask wearing.
Cases also have been spiking in France with 97,037 Tuesday and 52,544 Saturday, the third most in the world behind Japan and South Korea for confirmed cases.
In the United States, the CDC has classified 9.2% of counties, districts and territories with a "high" category transmission level, compared with 34.9% "medium" and 55.6% "low." In "high" locations, masks are urged indoors mainly in scattered places in the the Midwest, Plains, Rockies.
The CDC reported 455,466 cases in the past week, one week after 469,240, the most since 470,744 Sept. 14. Eight weeks ago it was 261,092 the lowest since 229,016 April 13. The record was 5,629,699 Jan. 19. And the deaths average was 2,703, two weeks after 1,794, the lowest since 1,679 July 7, one week after 3,115, the most since 3,134 Sept. 21, and the record 23,402 Jan. 13, 2021.
The predominant Omicron subvariant BQ.1.1 represented 38.4% of the total cases in the week ending Saturday with BQ,1 at 30.7% and BA.5, which dominated since the early summer, dropped to 10%. Omicron overall totals 100%.
In its weekly report Thursday, the CDC said the U.S. adult one-shot vaccination rate was 91.6% with completed primary service at 78.7% and updated booster doses 16.3%. The full population rates are 80.7% for one shot, 68.9% for completed primary and 14.1% updated booster 5 and older.
The United States reported Sunday 40,101 were hospitalized, which is 5.64% of capacity, from 38,340 a week ago, which is far below the record 160,113 (20.6%) on Jan. 20, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Since the start of the pandemic, total new admissions were 5,605,899 with a 13.8% rise in the seven-day average.
Total hospitalizations were 568,058 at 78.7% capacity, close to 79.13% last week.
Seasonal influenza activity is high and continues to increase across the country.
The CDC estimates so far this season, there have been at least 15 million illnesses, 150,000 hospitalizations and 9,300 deaths from flu. The deaths include at least 30 children, including nine in the past week.
"We have the tools, we have the infrastructure, and we have the know-how to manage this moment," White House Covid-19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said at a briefing Thursday. "And that means protecting people, preventing hospitalizations and deaths.
"And the key is this: We don't want this winter to look like last winter or the winter before. And our winter COVID-19 preparedness plan helps us do just that."
The government is again offering free home tests. Each household can order up to four at home tests at Covidtests.gov.
