Geneva

Amid fears of China kickstarting yet another cycle of the pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday urged Beijing to release real-time data on the prevailing situation in the country. â€œWHO again asked for regular sharing of specific and real-time data on the epidemiological situation," said the global health body before adding, "Including more genetic sequencing data, data on disease impact including hospitalisations, ICU admissions and deaths, and data on vaccinations delivered and vaccination status, especially in vulnerable people and those over 60 years old." 

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WHO released the statement after a meeting with China's National Health Commission (NHC) and the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration. 

WATCH | Global alarm over China's Covid surge, travel curbs imposed on Chinese travelers

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WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took to Twitter and reiterated that he demanded transparency from China. 

"My team met with #China representatives virtually to discuss the current surge in #COVID19 cases. @WHO again stressed the importance of transparency and regular sharing of data to formulate accurate risk assessments and to inform effective response."

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WHO requesting the real-time data stems from the decision by NHC which stated that it will no longer be publishing daily data on COVID-19 cases in the country.

"Relevant COVID information will be published by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention for reference and research," said the NHC in a statement.

Read more: China’s top health body says it will no longer publish daily Covid infection numbers 

There has been a thick cloud of uncertainty regarding China's COVID-19 numbers for the last three years. While the rest of the world managed to tame the virus by being transparent, China, through its hush-hush strategy coupled with its 'zero-Covid' policy managed to keep the pandemic alive. 

According to a Bloomberg report, the minutes of an internal meeting of the NHC held earlier this month showed that 248 million people, or nearly 18 per cent of the country's population, likely contracted Covid in the first 20 days of December. 

Read more: Leaked documents show nearly 250 million Chinese contracted Covid in December

(With inputs from agencies)

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