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The World Health Organization has criticized China for “underrepresenting” the true number of coronavirus deaths since it scrapped its “covid zero” policies.
In a rare rebuke to Beijing, the UN agency said on Wednesday that China was using a “very narrow” definition of Covid deaths, warning that official statistics did not show the true impact of the ongoing massive outbreak sweeping the country. .
The comment came as the WHO prepares to meet again with Chinese scientists on Thursday as part of a broader briefing among member states on the global COVID-19 situation, amid concerns the virus could spread further and of new variants.
“We believe that the current figures being published in China underestimate the true impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions, in terms of ICU admissions and particularly in terms of deaths,” the WHO emergencies director told reporters. , michael ryan.
The World Health Organization has criticized China for “underrepresenting” the true number of coronavirus deaths since it scrapped its “covid zero” policies. Pictured: Chinese residents in Shanghai are seen reportedly burning a body in the streets as the country’s funeral services are overwhelmed by the massive outbreak of covid infections after Beijing relaxed the zero covid policy.
Pictured: A woman helps a patient at Tongren hospital in Shanghai on January 3, 2023. In a rare rebuke to Beijing, the WHO said China was using a “very narrow” definition of Covid deaths on Wednesday, warning that official statistics did not show the true impact of the virus
Earlier in the briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated that the agency is “concerned” about the rise in COVID-19 infections.
He also again urged Beijing to deliver prompt and regular data on hospitalizations and deaths there, reiterating concerns expressed by other countries.
“We continue to ask China for faster, more regular and reliable data on hospitalizations and deaths, as well as more comprehensive real-time viral sequencing,” he told a news conference.
“WHO is concerned about the risk to life in China and has reiterated the importance of vaccination, including booster doses to protect against hospitalization, severe illness and death.”
Ghebreyesus has been criticized in the past for appearing reluctant to criticize Beijing, and the WHO was previously criticized for being too “China-centric” during the pandemic and accused of failing to publicly challenge Chinese disinformation in early 2020.
However, earlier this year, he criticized China’s draconian ‘covid zero’ policy in comments that drew the ire of Beijing.
China has rejected blame for the pandemic, despite the fact that the virus first left the country in December 2019, from the city of Wuhan. Beijing has also been accused of obfuscating the WHO’s attempts to investigate the origins of Covid.
A staff member pushes a cart carrying a body bag at a funeral home as Covid-19 outbreaks continue in Shanghai, China, on January 4.
Patients await treatment at Peking University Third Hospital on January 3.
Pictured: A graph showing China’s average number of coronavirus cases per day, based on official data released by the country. The figures are likely to be much higher than those represented in this graph.
The WHO confirmed on Wednesday that no new coronavirus variant had been found in China, easing some concerns about an outbreak that has spread rapidly there since Beijing abruptly reversed its ‘zero COVID’ policy.
The UN agency released data provided by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a day after WHO officials met with Chinese scientists amid global concern over the accuracy of the reports. China about an outbreak that has filled hospitals and overwhelmed some funeral homes.
Footage has shown that funeral services are so overwhelmed that some have started burning the bodies of their relatives in the streets.
Beijing’s abrupt lifting of ultra-tight COVID restrictions last month has unleashed the virus on China’s 1.4 billion people, who have little immunity after being shielded since the virus emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan three years ago. years.
Analysis by the China CDC showed a predominance of Omicron’s BA.5.2 and BF.7 lineages among locally acquired infections, according to data reported by the WHO.
Omicron is the dominant variant based on recent genomic sequencing, confirming what scientists have already said, but for now it will allay concerns about the emergence of a new variant.
Health officials abroad have been scrambling to determine the scale of the outbreak and how to stop its spread, and more countries are introducing measures such as pre-departure COVID tests for arrivals from China, measures that Beijing has criticized.
European Union health officials will meet on Wednesday to discuss a coordinated response.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (file photo) reiterated that the agency is “concerned” about the rise in COVID-19 infections during a news conference on Wednesday.
“We believe that the current figures being published in China underestimate the true impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions, in terms of ICU admissions and particularly in terms of deaths,” WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said. (left).
Many Chinese funeral homes and hospitals say they are overwhelmed, with international health experts predicting at least 1 million COVID-related deaths in China this year. China has reported five or fewer deaths per day since the U-turn policy.
“That’s totally ridiculous,” Zhang, 66, a Beijing resident who gave only his last name, said of the official toll booth. ‘Four of my close relatives died. That’s just one family. I hope the government is honest with the people and the rest of the world about what really happened here.
China’s cabinet said on Wednesday it would step up drug distribution and meet demand from medical institutions, nursing homes and rural areas, state media reported.
Beijing hit back at some countries requiring visitors to China to show COVID tests before leaving, saying the rules were unreasonable and lacked a scientific basis. Japan, the United States, Australia and several European states are among the countries that require such tests.
Willie Walsh, head of the world’s largest airline association IATA, criticized such “knock-on” measures, which he said had not previously stopped the spread of a virus that had hit airlines recovering from the pandemic.
A patient receives treatment on a bed in a corridor in the emergency department of a hospital in Beijing on January 3, 2023.
Patients are treated in the emergency department of a hospital in Beijing on January 3, 2023.
China will stop requiring incoming travelers to self-quarantine from January 8, but they must be tested before arrival.
China reported five new COVID deaths for Tuesday, bringing the official death toll to 5,258, very low by global standards. Britain-based health data firm Airfinity has estimated that around 9,000 people in China are likely to die every day from COVID.
The same firm said that up to 2.1 million could die in China in the coming months.
Patients at Shanghai’s Zhongshan Hospital, many of them elderly, were crammed into corridors Tuesday between makeshift beds with people on oxygen ventilators and intravenous drips.
A Reuters witness counted seven hearses in the parking lot of Shanghai’s Tongji hospital on Wednesday. Workers were seen carrying at least 18 yellow bags used to move bodies.
China’s $17 trillion economy has grown at its slowest level in nearly half a century amid COVID disruptions.
But the yuan was at a four-month high against the dollar on Wednesday after Finance Minister Liu Kun vowed to step up fiscal expansion. The central bank has also signaled its support for him.