Disease now spreading more quickly than flu, as experts say conditions for spreading the virus in summer and winter are ‘converging’
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenWilliam ZhengPublished: 7:00pm, 28 Jul 2026Updated: 7:01pm, 28 Jul 2026China has seen a spike in Covid-19 in recent weeks, overtaking influenza as the top respiratory pathogen for the first time this year, but most patients experienced mild symptoms, while the medical authorities said data suggested the infection rate was significantly lower than last year’s peak.The spread of the Omicron NB.1.8.1 variant has reached a “moderate transmission level”, according to the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC does not give a weekly total of new infections, but its most recent data – covering the week of July 13-19 – showed the positive rate for Covid-19 tests had reached 16.3 per cent, an increase of 4.3 percentage points compared with the previous week. Meanwhile, the positive rate for influenza was 12.6 per cent, a fall of 0.9 points.
The positive rate is the percentage of all diagnostic tests conducted in hospital clinics that come back positive for a specific pathogen.
Last month, mainland China recorded 79,000 new confirmed Covid-19 cases, including 130 severe cases and one death, according to the CDC.
The CDC advised elderly people and those with underlying health conditions to take preventive measures, such as wearing masks in public places and hospitals.
