WHO Says China Reported Nearly 220,000 New Weekly Covid Cases Till January 1

 

The World Health Organization (WHO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, has said in its weekly report that the People’s Republic of China reported 218,019 new weekly COVID-19 cases till January 1.

The country reported five Covid deaths on Tuesday, taking the official death count to 5,258. China has been battling a surge in Covid cases in recent months.

Last month, WHO said it has received no data from China on the new COVID-19 hospitalisation rate. WHO also said that the Chinese authorities were struggling to keep daily records of Covid cases.

Covid-cases increased rapidly since Beijing lifted its strict zero-COVID policy. Many health experts also said that China might be hiding information and actual Covid numbers amid the outbreak.

On Wednesday, the WHO said that China might be underreporting Covid-19 figures. Reportedly, China’s National Health Commission stopped publishing daily Covid-19 data on 25 December. WHO’s emergency director, Mike Ryan, also said that China’s definition of Covid-19 death was too narrow.

WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus asked China to present reliable data on hospitalisations and deaths related to Covid-19.

According to a Financial Times report, the Chinese authorities estimated that around 25 crore citizens of the population were infected with COVID-19 in the first 20 days of December 2022.

In December 2022, India, the United States, Spain, France, South Korea, Italy, Japan and Taiwan announced the requirement for negative Covid test reports from passengers arriving from China.

On Tuesday, the Chinese authorities slammed Covid-19 rules for Chinese citizens travelling abroad from China. China also threatened countermeasures after these countries imposed COVID-19 test requirements and travel restrictions on passengers travelling from China. Mao Ning, the Deputy Director-General of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, slammed these countries.