The case fatality rate of COVID-19 globally over the three years of the pandemic was 1.03 percent as of December 17, according to the World Health Organization. China's case fatality rate was 0.31 percent, and that of the U.S. was 1.09 percent. For three years, China has maintained a low fatality rate.  

"Currently, the death rate from the Omicron variant circulating in China is almost the same as that of influenza (the flu), a majority of infected people can fully recover within a week," top Chinese respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan said during a virtual meeting of the Annual Congress of Chinese Thoracic Society on December 9.

(Data edited by Sun Yiwen, graphics by Mukesh Mohanan)