China says its 'impossible' to keep track of asymptomatic COVID-19 cases — so health officials are giving up counting

Rebecca Cohen
Updated ·2 min read
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  • China has stopped counting asymptomatic COVID-19 cases as a breakout of the virus rages in Beijing.

  • "It is impossible to accurately grasp the actual number of asymptomatic infections," China's health agency said.

  • The World Health Organization reported 22,804 new COVID-19 cases in China over the last 24 hours on Wednesday.

Roughly a week after Beijing eased its "zero-covid" restrictions, a new wave of the virus has hit the city hard.

But because of the massive number of cases emerging in the city each day, China's National Health Commission announced Wednesday that it will no longer be tallying the asymptomatic cases because they have become cumbersome to track.

"It is impossible to accurately grasp the actual number of asymptomatic infections," China's NHC said in a statement, according to CNN.

China's easing of their COVID-19 restrictions — and this new virus breakout — comes weeks after protestors took to the streets to fight against the "zero covid" policies in response to an apartment fire that killed 10 people in Urumqi. In online discussions, commenters argued that the fire might have been put out more swiftly had COVID restrictions on the building not been in place, the Associated Press reported.

The World Health Organization reported 22,804 new COVID-19 cases in China over the last 24 hours on Wednesday. It's not clear if asymptomatic cases were included in the count.

But those numbers only reflect confirmed cases at public testing sites where the patient clearly displays symptoms, The Associated Press reported, suggesting that, due to at-home rapid tests, the number of cases in Beijing could, in actuality, be much higher.

According to CNN, the streets of Beijing have been empty as many residents are staying home either because they are sick or they are trying to avoid contracting the virus themselves.

One worker at a Beijing neighborhood committee office told CNN that 21 out of 24 employees in her office have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days.

Read the original article on Insider