Health officials say respiratory illnesses not a serious concern for holiday travelers

Domestic COVID-19 cases have generally been mild, and influenza activity is trending downward, health officials said on Thursday.

Mi Feng, spokesman of the National Health Commission, said that daily visits to respiratory illness departments at medical institutions nationwide have been declining consistently, and the country's medical system is operating in an orderly manner.

As the travel rush for the upcoming Spring Festival holiday from Feb 10 to 17 begins on Friday, Mi said the risk of respiratory diseases spreading would be heightened by the increased crowds and the number of gatherings being held during the holiday.

Peng Zhibin, a respiratory illness expert from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the number of COVID-19 cases has ticked up in recent days, but the increase is small.

"The proportion of JN.1 cases is climbing consistently, but most patients are asymptomatic or only exhibit mild symptoms," she said, adding that health problems caused by the emerging strain do not appear to be any more severe than those caused by the current dominant strain EJ.5.

"Around the Spring Festival holiday, the COVID-19 epidemic is likely to rebound to some extent," she said.

Peng added that the number of respiratory illness infections started falling over the past week. "China will continue to experience the circulation of respiratory pathogens this winter and spring, and influenza cases will account for the majority of them in the short term," she said.

But with influenza activity showing signs of decline and winter breaks at schools underway, Peng said that such activity will drop to a low level soon.