Beijing: A top Chinese official has said he believes China might be seeing the first of the three COVID-19 infection waves this winter.

The country is witnessing a surge in infection after authorities lifted most of the restrictions amid protests.

The government reported only 2,097 new daily cases on Sunday, reports BBC.

Experts believe these numbers are an underestimate due to a recent reduction in Covid testing.

Epidemiologist Wu Zunyou has told BBC that he believes the current spike in infections would run until mid-January, while the second wave would then be triggered by mass travel in January around the week-long Lunar New Year celebrations which begin on 21 January.

The third surge in cases would run from late February to mid-March as people return to work after the holiday, Dr Wu said.

China claims that 90 percent of its population has been fully vaccinated.

China has developed and produced its own vaccines, which have been shown to be less effective at protecting people against serious Covid illness and death than the mRNA vaccines used in much of the rest of the world, reports BBC.