Unreported Deaths, Hiding Data: China Says Covid Situation Controllable, But Concerns Grow over Lunar New Year

China insisted it had been transparent with the international community about its Covid data, as it hit back against World Health Organization criticism that its tally of virus deaths was understating the true scale of its outbreak.

More than a dozen countries have imposed fresh Covid rules on visitors from China in the wake of that outbreak, requiring all arrivals to submit negative virus tests with some screening wastewater from flights arriving from the world’s most populous nation.

The country has only recorded 23 Covid deaths since December, after dramatically narrowing the criteria for classifying such fatalities. Beijing’s statistics about the unprecedented wave are now widely seen by other countries as not reflecting reality.

Greece, Germany and Sweden on Thursday joined more than a dozen countries to demand Covid tests from Chinese travellers, as the World Health Organisation said China’s official virus data was under-reporting the true extent of its outbreak.

Here are the latest developments in the story:

– China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that China had transparently and quickly shared Covid data with the WHO and said China’s “epidemic situation is controllable”.

– China is seeking to minimize the possibility of a major new COVID-19 outbreak during this month’s Lunar New Year travel rush following the end of most pandemic containment measures. The Transportation Ministry on Friday called on travelers to reduce trips and gatherings, particularly if they involve elderly people, pregnant women, small children and those with underlying conditions.

– WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said that official statistics were not showing the true impact of the outbreak in China, where cases have surged in the wake of Beijing’s decision last month to suddenly lift years of stringent virus controls.

– China called on the World Health Organization to take a “just” position on Covid-19, after the body criticised Beijing’s “very narrow” definition of virus deaths.

– The World Health Organization (WHO) received data from China on new COVID-19 hospitalizations after a reporting gap, with figures on Thursday showing a nearly 50 percent increase in the week to January 1.

– In its latest weekly report, the WHO said China reported 218,019 new weekly Covid cases as of January 1, adding that gaps in data might be due to authorities simply struggling to tally cases.

– US President Joe Biden also raised concern about China’s handling of the Covid outbreak that is filling hospitals and overwhelming some funeral homes. “They’re very sensitive … when we suggest they haven’t been that forthcoming,” Biden told reporters while on a visit to Kentucky.

– The Covid-19 wave might have passed in major cities in China, but the country will see many more waves, including in rural areas, and a surge again at the end of this year, researchers have said. The researchers predict a delay in Covid-19 infections between the urban and rural areas. They predicted the Covid-19 surge would hit rural areas later.

– The Lunar New Year travel rush is also expected to speed up its arrival, with infections peaking in mid-January in inner provinces such as Gansu, Qinghai and Shaanxi.

– China expects the total number of passenger trips made by travellers by road, rail, water and flight during the upcoming Lunar New Year to reach 2.1 billion this year, double from last year’s 1.05 billion during the same period.

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