Chinese government is under-representing severity of COVID outbreak - WHO alleges as more countries continue to restrict travelers from China

 

 A senior World Health Organization (WHO) official has alleged that China’s official data is under-representing the true impact of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, criticizing its “very narrow” definition of COVID deaths.
More countries are imposing travel restrictions on visitors from China in the wake of a steep rise in COVID infections in the country. Hospitals and crematoriums are overwhelmed since Beijing last month abruptly lifted more than three years of hardline restrictions.
 A senior doctor at one of Shanghai’s top hospitals said 70 percent of the megacity’s population may now have been infected with COVID-19, state media reported on Tuesday, January 3.

International health experts have predicted at least one million COVID-related deaths in China this year if no urgent action is taken.
Yet China has only recorded 22 COVID deaths since December and has dramatically narrowed the criteria for classifying such fatalities. It counts only those cases that involve COVID-caused pneumonia or respiratory failure – meaning that Beijing’s own statistics about the unprecedented wave are now widely seen as not reflecting reality.
“We believe that the current numbers being published from China underrepresent the true impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions, in terms of ICU admissions, particularly in terms of death,” Mike Ryan, WHO’s emergencies director, told reporters on Wednesday, January 4.