COVID-19 data from China underrepresents surge of cases and deaths, WHO says

The World Health Organization is "concerned" about the surge in COVID-19 infections in China, director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.

"We continue to ask China for more rapid, regular, reliable data on hospitalizations and deaths, as well as more comprehensive, real-time viral sequencing," he said at a media briefing in Geneva.

His remarks come one day after the WHO met with Chinese scientists amid concern about the accuracy of China's data about the outbreak. Other WHO officials underscored the need for more data from China while thanking the country for what it has provided in the last week.

"We know there are difficulties in all countries very often in recording hospital releases, admissions and use of ICU facilities," saidWHO emergencies chief Dr. Mike Ryan.

"We believe that the current numbers being published from China underrepresent the true impact of the disease, in terms of ICU admissions and particularly in terms of deaths."

The comments came as the UN agency prepares to meet with Chinese scientists again on Thursday as part of a wider briefing among member states on the global COVID-19 situation.

COVID-19's surge in China

Beijing's abrupt axing of "zero COVID" curbs 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.

China reported five new COVID deaths for Tuesday, bringing the official death toll to 5,258, very low by global standards.

Many Chinese funeral homes and hospitals say they are overwhelmed, and international health experts predict at least one million deaths in China this year. China has reported five or fewer deaths a day since the policy U-turn.

"That is totally ridiculous," 66-year-old Zhang, a Beijing resident who only gave his last name, said of the official toll.

"Four of my close relatives died. That's only from one family. I hope the government will be honest with the people and the rest of the world about what's really happened here."

China's cabinet said on Wednesday it would step up medicine distribution and meet demand from medical institutions, nursing homes and rural areas amid the outbreak, state media reported.

"China and the Chinese people will surely win the final victory against the epidemic," the People's Daily, the Communist Party's official newspaper, said in an editorial, rebutting criticism of China's three years of isolation, lockdowns and testing that triggered historic protests late last year.

Earlier this week, Chinese officials sharply criticized COVID-19 testing requirements imposed on visitors from China and threatened countermeasures against countries involved, which include the U.S. and several European countries.

Canada, Japan, the United States, Australia and several European states are among countries requiring such tests.

"We believe that the entry restrictions adopted by some countries targeting China lack scientific basis, and some excessive practices are even more unacceptable," Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry,said at a briefing Tuesday.

Seeking data

Willie Walsh, head of the world's biggest airline association IATA, criticized such "knee-jerk" measures that he said had not previously stopped the spread of virus that hammered airlines that are recovering from the pandemic.

China will stop requiring inbound travellers to quarantine from Jan. 8 but they must be tested before arrival.

WHO has asked Chinese scientists for data on viral sequencing, hospitalizations, deaths and vaccinations. Reuters reported last month the WHO had not received data on new hospitalisations since Beijing's policy U-turn.

British-based health data firm Airfinity has said about 9,000 people in China are probably dying each day from COVID.

A WHO expert group said Wednesday that no worrying new COVID variants have been identified in China based on the information authorities have shared, including genetic sequences deposited into a public database. The WHO said Chinese scientists have now shared more than 770 sequences, with Omicron subvariants BA.5 and its descendants accounting for more than 97 per centof all local infections.

Globally, BA.5 variants comprise about 68 per centof all sequences.

WATCH | WHO head says new COVID-19 variant in 25 countries:

New COVID-19 virus subvariant now in 25 countries, says WHO chief

2 years ago

Duration 0:32

A new subvariant of the coronavirus, XBB.1.5, is increasing in the U.S. and Europe and has been found in 25 countries, says the World Health Organization.

China's $17-trillion economy has grown at its slowest in nearly half a century amid the COVID disruptions.

But the yuan was at a four-month high against the dollar on Wednesday after Finance Minister Liu Kun promised to step up fiscal expansion. The central bank has also flagged support.

UBS analysts expect China's rapid reopening to cause "a deeper but shorter setback" to the economy but also predicted a recovery in activity from February.

Meanwhile, international flight bookings in China have risen 145 per cent year on year in recent days, state-run China Daily reported, citing Trip.com data.

The number of flights to and from China are still a fraction of pre-COVID levels. But there are already signs that an increase in travel from China could pose problems abroad.

South Korea, which began testing travellers from China on Monday, said more than a fifth of test results were positive.