'Concerned' about risk to life in China due to Covid-19 spread, says WHO; flags 'lack of info' again

The massive surge in Covid-19 cases in China -- that has filled hospitals and overwhelmed funeral homes -- has raised global concerns about the potential emergence of new coronavirus variants.

New Delhi: The World Health Organisation (WHO) head on Wednesday (January 4, 2023) said that the agency is "concerned about the risk to life in China" due to the coronavirus' explosive spread across the country. At a media briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus again flagged the lack of outbreak data from the Chinese government.

"We continue to ask China for 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 last week held a high-level meeting with counterparts in China to discuss the surge in Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations.

"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. This is especially important for older people, those with underlying medical conditions, and others who are at higher risk of severe outcomes," Tedros said.

"With circulation in China so high and comprehensive data not forthcoming – as I said last week it is understandable that some countries are taking steps they believe will protect their own citizens. This data is useful to WHO and the world and we encourage all countries to share it," he said.

The WHO chief stated that the data remains essential for the agency to carry out regular, rapid and robust risk assessments of the current situation and adjust our advice and guidance accordingly.

Omicron sub-variant XBB.1.5 rising in US, Europe 

The WHO Director-General said that outside of China, one of the Omicron sub-variants originally detected in October 2022 is XBB.1.5, a recombinant of two BA.2 sub-lineages.

"It is on the increase in the US and Europe and has now been identified in more than 25 countries," he informed.

WHO is following closely and assessing the risk of this subvariant and will report accordingly, Tedros said.

LIVE: Media briefing on global health issues with @DrTedros https://t.co/tGqIWgzdIw — World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 4, 2023

"Covid-19 will no doubt 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 added.

World in a 'much better' place into fourth year of pandemic

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said that now into the fourth year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world is in a much better place than it was several years ago, due to clinical care management, vaccines and treatments.

"For most of last year, Covid-19 was on the decline. Vaccination increased across the world, and there was sustained progress in many low- and middle-income countries that had been left far behind in 2021 due to vaccine nationalism and manufacturing capacity being restricted to just a handful of countries," he told media.

But despite clear progress, the threat of coronavirus persists, he added.

China Covid-19 data shows no new variant but under-reports deaths

Meanwhile, a WHO official said that the data from China shows that no new coronavirus variant has been found there, but also that the country under-represents how many people have died in a rapidly spreading Covid-19 outbreak. 

Mike Ryan, the WHO's emergencies director, told a media briefing that current numbers being published from China under-represent hospital admissions, intensive care unit patients and "particularly in terms of death."

Global unease has grown about the accuracy of China's reporting of an outbreak that has filled hospitals and overwhelmed some funeral homes since the nation's 1.4 billion people abruptly reversed its "zero Covid" policy last month.

Beijing's abrupt axing of those ultra-strict curbs has unleashed the virus on the people who have little immunity after being shielded since it emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan three years ago.

(With agency inputs)