Source: Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention
(August 2023)
1. Report of severe cases and deaths from new coronavirus infection nationwide
From August 1 to August 31, 2023, 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported 532 new severe cases and 43 deaths (including 0 deaths from respiratory failure caused by new coronavirus infection and 43 deaths from underlying diseases combined with new coronavirus infection). See Figure 1.
Figure 1 Report of new severe cases and deaths from new coronavirus infection nationwide
2. The diagnosis and treatment of fever clinics (consultation rooms) nationwide
From August 1 to August 31, 2023, the average daily fever outpatient (consultation room) volume in 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps fluctuated around 125,000. See Figure 2.
Fig. 2 The trend of the number of people treated in fever clinics (consultation rooms) nationwide
3. Monitoring of sentinel hospitals
The proportion of influenza-like cases in sentinel hospitals nationwide in outpatient (emergency) department visits fluctuated slightly from 3.3% in week 31 (31 July to 6 August) in week 3023 to 3.5% in week 34 (21 August to 27 August). See Figure 3-1.
Figure 3-1 Change trend of influenza-like cases reported in sentinel hospitals nationwide
The positive rate of influenza-like cases slowly increased from 14.4% in week 31 (July 31-August 6) to 19.6% in week 34 (August 21-August 27). See Figure 3-2.
Figure 3-2 Trends in the positive rate of new crown and influenza virus among influenza-like cases in sentinel hospitals nationwide
4. Surveillance of virus mutations in local cases
From August 1 to August 31, 2023, 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported a total of 9,608 local cases of effective genome sequences of the new coronavirus, all of which were Omicron variants, covering 106 evolutionary branches, the main epidemic strain was XBB series variants, accounting for the top three were XBB.1.9 and its subbranches, XBB.1.22 and its subbranches, XBB.1.16 and its subbranches.
According to the sampling date, the proportion of XBB and its subbranches increased slightly in August, with 99.6% in week 31 (July 31-August 6) and 99.8% in week 34 (August 21-August 27) in 2023. See Figure 4.
Fig. 4: Change trend of local cases of novel coronavirus infection in China