Covid surge made Chinese shun cigarettes & alcohol, flock to medicine stores

New Delhi: Retail sales of medicines in China increased 43 per cent in December 2022 — the month when COVID-19 cases peaked in the neighbouring country — according to recently released data from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). From 8 December 2022 to 12 January 2023, China registered 59,938 COVID-19 deaths, Jiao Yahui, director of the Department of Medical Affairs of the National Health Commission, said last week. Reports estimate that 248 million people, or nearly 18 per cent of the China's population, likely contracted the virus in the first 20 days of December. According to data released by the…