Official figures from China do not reflect the reality of the Covid outbreak, says WHO

“We believe that the current figures published by China under-represent the real impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions, intensive care admissions and, most importantly, in terms of deaths,” said Michael Ryan, executive director of China’s Health Emergencies Program. WHO.

A China is currently facing its worst outbreak of infections following the suspension of its “covid zero” in early December.

Xi Jinping calls for measures to 'protect' lives amid the explosion of Covid-19 cases in China

The President of China, Xi Jinping, asked this Monday (26) that authorities adopt measures to “effectively protect” the lives of his compatriots in the face of the spread of Covid-19, in his first public statements since Beijing eased health restrictions.

Despite the wave of cases, the country officially records few deaths linked to the disease. Covid-19 due to a controversial change in the counting methodology. Now, only people who die as a direct result of respiratory failure linked to the coronavirus are counted in the statistics.

Last week, the WHO met with Chinese authorities to discuss the explosion in the number of infections and hospitalizations.

“We continue to ask China for faster, regular and reliable data on hospitalizations and deaths, as well as the most complete and real-time sequencing of the virus,” emphasized the director general of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a press conference this Wednesday (4).

“These numbers are useful for the WHO and the entire world, and we ask all countries to share them. Data remains essential for WHO to make regular, rapid and robust assessments of the risks associated with the current situation and adapt its advice and guidance accordingly,” he explained.

(To AFP)

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