Global health officials tried to determine the facts of China's raging COVID outbreak and how to prevent a further spread as the Communist Party's mouthpiece rallied citizens for a 'final victory' over the virus
met Chinese scientists. China has been reporting daily COVID deaths in single figures. Mike Ryan, the WHO's emergencies director, told a media briefing that current numbers being published from China under-represented numbers of hospital admissions, ICU admissions and "particularly in terms of death.
"more rapid and regular data"WHO is concerned about the risk to life in China and has reiterated the importance of vaccination, including booster doses to protect against hospitalisation, severe disease and death," he said. China's People's Daily, the Communist Party's official newspaper, sought to rally worried citizens for what it calls a "final victory" over COVID-19, rebutting criticism of its policy of strict isolation that triggered rare protests last year. Beijing's abrupt axing of those ultra-strict curbs last month has unleashed the virus on China's 1.4 billion people, who have little immunity after being shielded since it emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan three years ago. Health officials abroad have been struggling to work out the scale of the outbreak and how to stop it spreading, with more countries introducing measures such pre-departure COVID tests for arrivals from China, moves that Beijing has criticised.FUNERAL HOMES OVERWHELMED China's CDC analysis showed a predominance of Omicron lineages BA.5.2 and BF.7 among locally acquired infections, according to the data reported by the WHO. Omicron is the dominant variant based on recent genomic sequencing, confirming what scientists had already said but allaying concerns for now about a new variant emerging. However, many Chinese funeral homes and hospitals say they are overwhelmed, and international health experts predict at least 1 million COVID-related deaths in China this year."That is totally ridiculous," a 66-year-old Zhang, a Beijing resident who only gave his last name, said of the official toll. "Four of my close relatives died. That's only from one family. I hope the government will be honest with the people and the rest of the world about what’s really happened here." China's cabinet said on Wednesday it would step up medicine distribution and meet demand from medical institutions, nursing homes and rural areas, state media reported. Beijing has hit back against some countries demanding visitors from China show pre-departure COVID tests, saying the
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