China slams WHO for calling it out on lack of COVID-19 data
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin
China has hit out at the World Health Organization for saying that the country has not been transparent about reporting COVID-19 deaths. A spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday that Beijing has held close communication with WHO, holding five technical exchanges over the past month with the latest one on Wednesday.
Spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters that the two sides have discussed current clinical treatment, epidemic development, monitoring and vaccination.
He further informed that local health authorities have held bilateral meetings with the EU and Australia on the matter. Genome data of the fresh cases has also been regularly shared via the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID), Wang said.
Also Read |China ‘heavily underreporting’ COVID deaths, lack info for proper risk assessment, says WHO
The WHO this week had said, that while China has been sharing enough data on the virus, it has been "heavily underreporting" deaths caused by the disease.
"WHO still believes that deaths are heavily underreported from China," its emergencies director Michael Ryan told reporters. "We still do not have adequate information to make a full comprehensive risk assessment."
China has shared COVID-related data in a timely, open and transparent manner, Wang said, and is willing to continue holding technical exchanges to better cope with the epidemic challenges and protect people's lives and health.
"We hope that the WHO can scientifically and rationally evaluate China's COVID prevention and control, and make remarks objectively and fairly," Wang noted.
Liang Wannian, head of China's COVID-19 response expert panel under the NHC, said Wednesday that China has informed the international community about all the variants detected till date in the country to the WHO and will continue to do so.
China has been reporting five or fewer deaths a day over the past month, but the numbers being reported are inconsistent with the long queues seen at funeral homes. The country did not report COVID fatalities data on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Global Times reported that the infection peak in the country is declining, although the health system is still under massive pressure.
(With inputs from agencies)
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