WATCH | China's Covid surge forces Shanghai hospital to treat patients outside
Patients in Shanghai being treated in hallway for the lack of space | @manyapan |
China's ongoing struggle to combat the latest surge in Covid cases was seen in visuals that went viral on social media. In a video posted on Twitter, cited to be of December 28, people can be seen being treated outside a hospital said to be located in Shanghai, China's most populous urban area.A user on social media claimed that some patients were being treated outside the "overflowing emergency department" of the Shanghai hospital. The patients were also treated in the hallway due to lack of space, the user added in another tweet.
The viral videos, however, cannot be independently verified by WION.
Meanwhile, China on Thursday insisted it had been transparent with the international community about its Covid data, as it hit back against World Health Organisation criticism that its tally of virus deaths was understating the true scale of its outbreak.
China has only recorded 23 Covid deaths since December, after narrowing the criteria for classifying Covid fatalities.
Beijing's statistics about the unprecedented wave are now widely seen by other countries as not reflecting reality.
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In Geneva on Wednesday, WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said the global organisation was without "complete data" from China.
"We believe that the current numbers being published from China under-represent the true impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions, in terms of ICU admissions, and particularly in terms of deaths," he said.
The definition Beijing is using is "very narrow", he added.
Beijing hit back on Thursday, insisting China had "always shared relevant information and data with the international community, with an open and transparent attitude".
"We hope the WHO secretariat will uphold a scientific, objective and just position, and make efforts to play a positive role for the world's response to the pandemic challenge," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in a press briefing.
(With inputs from agencies)
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