new Delhi: The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday (January 4, 2023) that the agency is “concerned about the risk to life in China” due to the explosive spread of the coronavirus across the country. In a media briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus again flagged the Chinese government’s lack of data on the outbreak.
“We call on China to provide more rapid, regular, reliable data on hospitalizations and deaths, as well as more comprehensive, real-time viral sequencing,” he said and informed that the UN agency has Had a high level meeting with the week counterparts. To discuss the rise in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations in China.
“WHO is concerned about the risk to life in China and reiterates the importance of vaccination, including booster doses, to protect against hospitalization, severe illness and death. This is especially true for older people, people with underlying medical conditions and other critical for people . . . who are at high risk of serious consequences,” Tedros said.
“There is not so much and comprehensive data coming out with circulation in China – as I said last week it is understandable that some countries are taking steps that they believe will protect their citizens. This data Useful to WHO and the world and we encourage all countries to share it,” he said.
The WHO chief said the data is essential for the agency to conduct regular, rapid and robust risk assessments of the current situation and to adjust our advice and guidance accordingly.
Omicron sub-variant XBB.1.5 surfacing in US, Europe
The WHO director general said that one of the Omicron sub-variants originally detected outside China, in October 2022, is XBB.1.5, a recombinant of two BA.2 sub-lineages.
“It is on the rise in the US and Europe and has now been identified in more than 25 countries,” he reported.
Tedros said the WHO is closely monitoring and assessing the risk of this subvariant and will report accordingly.
LIVE: With media briefing on global health issues @DrTedros https://t.co/tGqIWgzdIw— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 4, 2023
“Covid-19 will undoubtedly still be a major topic of discussion, but I believe and hope that with the right efforts, this will be the year the public health emergency officially ends,” he said.
World ‘better’ in fourth year of pandemic
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said that now in the fourth year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world is in a better position than many years ago due to clinical care management, vaccines and treatments.
“Through much of last year, COVID-19 was on the decline. Vaccinations increased worldwide, and continued progress was made in many low- and middle-income countries, which were left far behind in 2021 by vaccine nationalism and manufacturing capacity Were.” being restricted to only a handful of countries,” he told the media.
But despite the apparent progress, the threat of the coronavirus remains, he said.
China’s COVID-19 data shows no new variants, but underreports deaths
Meanwhile, a WHO official said that data from China shows that no new coronavirus variant has been found there, but also that the number of people who have died in the country’s rapidly spreading COVID-19 outbreak, underrepresents it.
WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan told a media briefing that the current numbers being published from China over-represented hospital admissions, intensive care unit patients and “particularly in terms of deaths”.
Global unease has grown about the accuracy of China’s reporting of an outbreak that has filled hospitals and overwhelmed some funeral homes as the country of 1.4 billion people abruptly reversed its “zero Covid” policy last month .
Beijing’s sudden lifting of ultra-tough restrictions since it emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan three years ago has allowed the virus to spread to people who have low immunity.
(with agency inputs)