Chinese state media played down the severity of a surge of COVID-19 infections ahead of an expected briefing yesterday by its scientists to the WHO, which is hoping for a “detailed discussion” on the evolution of the coronavirus.
China’s abrupt U-turn on COVID-19 controls on Dec. 7, as well as the accuracy of its case and mortality data, have come under increasing scrutiny at home and abroad.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs labeled travel entry curbs imposed by some nations as “simply unreasonable,” saying they “lacked scientific basis.”
Photo: AP
“We are willing to improve communication with the world, but ... we are firmly opposed to attempts to manipulate the epidemic prevention and control measures for political purposes, and will take corresponding measures in different situations according to the principle of reciprocity,” ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning (毛寧) told reporters in Beijing.
As the virus spreads unchecked, funeral parlors have reported a spike in demand for their services and international health experts predict at least 1 million deaths in China this year.
China yesterday reported three new COVID-19 deaths, taking its official death toll since the pandemic began to 5,253.
The People’s Daily yesterday cited Chinese experts as saying the illness caused by the virus was relatively mild for most people.
“Severe and critical illnesses account for 3 percent to 4 percent of infected patients currently admitted to designated hospitals in Beijing,” Beijing Chaoyang Hospital vice president Tong Zhaohui (童朝暉) told the newspaper.
West China Tianfu Hospital of Sichuan University president Kang Yan (康焰) said that in the past three weeks, 46 patients had been admitted to intensive care units, or about 1 percent of symptomatic infections.
The emergencies area at Zhongshan Hospital in Shanghai was packed with patients yesterday, a witness said.
Some were in beds in the corridor receiving intravenous therapy, while dozens were lining up around them, waiting to see a doctor.
The WHO has urged Chinese health officials to regularly share specific and real-time information on the outbreak. It has invited Chinese scientists to present detailed data on viral sequencing at a technical advisory group meeting. It has also asked China to share data on hospitalizations, deaths and vaccinations.
Ahead of the meeting scheduled for yesterday afternoon in Geneva, Switzerland, a WHO spokesperson said that a “detailed discussion” was expected about circulating variants in China, and globally, with Chinese scientists expected to make a presentation, but some experts doubted that China would be very forthright.
“I don’t think China will be very sincere in disclosing information,” said Alfred Wu (吳木鑾), associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at National University of Singapore. “They would rather just keep it to themselves or they would say nothing happened, nothing is new. My own sense is that we could assume that there is nothing new ... but the problem is China’s transparency issue is always there.”
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