WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is asking for detailed information as China battles a surge in COVID cases.
China may struggle to keep a list of COVID-19 infections as the country experiences a large spike in cases, a senior World Health Organization official has said, amid concerns about a lack of data from the country.
Official figures from China have become an unreliable guide as fewer tests are conducted across the country following the recent easing of strict “zero-COVID” policies.
“A relatively low number of cases in intensive care units has been reported in China, but anecdotally, intensive care units are filling up,” said Mike Ryan, WHO’s director of emergencies, on Wednesday.
“I don’t want to say that China isn’t actively telling us what’s going on. I think they’re behind the curve.”
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said he was “very concerned” about the situation in China.
“WHO is very concerned about the evolving situation in China,” Tedros said at a weekly news conference, asking for detailed information on the severity of the disease, hospitalizations and critical care requirements.
Vaccines from Germany
The WHO said it is ready to work with China to improve the way the country collects data on critical factors such as hospitalization and death.
China uses a narrow definition of COVID deaths and reported no new deaths for Tuesday, even dropping one from its total since the pandemic began, now at 5,241 – a fraction of the toll of many much less populous countries.
The National Health Commission said only deaths from pneumonia and respiratory failure in patients who had the virus are classified as COVID deaths.
Noting that vaccination rates in the country have risen sharply in recent weeks, Ryan added that it remains to be seen whether enough vaccinations can be carried out in the coming weeks to stave off the effects of an Omicron wave.
Beds are seen at a fever clinic set up in a sports area as outbreaks of the coronavirus disease continue in Beijing [Thomas Peter/Reuters]
The WHO would encourage work to import vaccines but also make provisions where vaccines can be manufactured in as many places as possible, Ryan said.
China has approved nine domestically developed COVID-19 vaccines for use, more than any other country, but they have not been updated to target the highly infectious Omicron variant.
Germany has sent its first batch of BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines to China, initially to be given to German expatriates, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said, the first foreign coronavirus vaccine to be shipped to the country.
“The Chinese government informed Germany today that for the time being, German citizens in China could receive the BioNTech vaccines,” he said, adding that “about 20,000 Germans would benefit from the delivery.”
He said Germany was negotiating to gain access for “other so-called expatriates” from other countries.
“In return, Chinese citizens in Europe, in Germany, can receive the Chinese vaccine Sinovac if they wish,” Hebestreit said.
It was initially not clear whether further transports from Berlin would follow.