China's stretched health system braces for peak in COVID-19 infections

China is expecting a peak in COVID-19 infections within a week, a health official said, with authorities predicting extra strain on the country's health system even as they downplay the disease's severity and continue to report no new deaths. In the face of a surging outbreak and widespread protests against, China this month began dismantling its "zero-COVID" regime of lockdowns and relentless testing, becoming the last major country to move toward living with the virus. Its containment measures had slowed the economy to its lowest growth rate in nearly half a century, jamming global supply chains and trade. As Chinese…