Concerns are increasing that the government may be concealing the full impact of the virus as a wave of Covid-19 cases hit Chinese towns. The Covid-19 epidemic in China could result in new virus variants. As the world's most populous nation continues to struggle with the effects of easing "Covid Zero" protocols that had kept the pandemic at bay, the US is afraid that China's out-of-control Covid-19 outbreak may give rise to new varieties of the virus. Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the US embassy in Beijing, told Bloomberg News on Monday night that China has taken "scientific and exact prevention and control measures" to lessen the virus's negative effects on its people and economy.