Covid Data Missing, Scope of Chinese Outbreak unknown to WHO

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

January 15, 2023 – China is being urged to report its Covid-19 situation accurately by the World Health Organization (WHO)  with the global health agency expressing concern over the ‘risk to life’ as the outbreak grows.

The warning follows reports that as many as 250 million infections may have been recorded during the holiday season and comes as the country prepares for its own New Year celebrations coming up later this month.

Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General told media on Wednesday January 4 that the WHO had been asking China for more rapid, regular, reliable data on hospitalizations and deaths, as well as more comprehensive, real-time viral sequencing.

“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 disease, and death.” Ghebreyesus maintained.

China’s tight fisted approach to information regarding outbreak numbers and viral sequencing are major concerns, slow sharing of that data could give any potential new variants time to spread not only in the Asian country but across the globe

The WHO top man who has in the past spoken out against travel bans as means of corralling COVID said it was understandable that countries were now taking steps to protect their borders against any perceived threats to their citizens with “circulation in China so high and comprehensive data not forthcoming.”

More than a dozen countries including India; Canada; the UK; Japan; France; Australia; Spain; Italy; Malaysia; and the United States have asked travelers from China to present negative COVID-19 tests before being granted entry.

While these are not travel bans in the strictest sense, they do provide an extra layer of security for countries fearful of returning to out of control Covid case numbers.