World health officials pressed for more information from Beijing as COVID-19 spikes across China, while Western nations are imposing new travel restrictions to protect their people from another pandemic surge.
Specialists from the World Health Organization were meeting again with their Chinese counterparts in a renewed effort to learn more from the secretive and authoritarian government about the spread of COVID-19 across China and to offer WHO's expertise and support.
“The current numbers being published from China underestimate the true impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions and ICU admissions and in terms of deaths,” Dr. Mike Ryan, WHO’s emergencies chief, told a press briefing on Wednesday. “We would like to see more data on a more geographic basis across China.”
Health officials from WHO and China also met several days earlier, just before the New Year, to discuss the spread of the virus.
WHO's experts are asking for “specific and real-time data on the epidemiological situation,” including additional genetic sequencing data, accurate information on hospitalizations and intensive care admissions and COVID-related deaths, according to the U.N. health agency. They also want to learn more about vaccination rates and efforts to protect people at high risk.
WHO said its specialists met with “high-level officials” from China's National Health Commission and the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration and were briefed on China's “evolving strategy” to monitor new variants of the virus as well as China’s strategy for vaccinations, clinical care, medical research and communicating with the public.
My team met with #China representatives virtually to discuss the current surge in #COVID19 cases. @WHO again stressed the importance of transparency and regular sharing of data to formulate accurate risk assessments and to inform effective response. https://t.co/FmELvtApbT
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) December 30, 2022
Countries impose travel restrictions
Citing a lack of credible information from China on the severity of its latest COVID surge, many countries are imposing or considering restrictions on travelers from the country.
Major international destinations such as the United States, Britain, France and Australia have already or will in the next few days require negative COVID-19 tests from passengers flying out of China.
In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising Americans to reconsider travel to China, Hong Kong and Macau. Starting Wednesday, Morocco will ban all travel from China.
WHO's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it's only natural that other countries would restrict travel given the lack of information and transparency coming out of Beijing.
“In the absence of comprehensive information from China, it is understandable that countries around the world are acting in ways that they believe may protect their populations,” he said.
While Beijing continues to acknowledge only a few deaths related to COVID-19, there are reports of funeral homes across China seeing a spike in demand.
The European Union is offering free COVID-19 vaccines to China, but Beijing, which so far insists on using only Chinese-produced vaccines, has not responded.
