Top WHO official says China undercounting COVID deaths

A top World Health Organization (WHO) official on Wednesday said China is underreporting deaths from COVID-19 and called for more transparency about the scope of the country’s outbreak.

“We believe the current numbers being published from China underrepresent the true impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions, in terms of ICU admissions, and particularly in terms of death,” said Mike Ryan, head of the WHO’s health emergencies program.

Ryan said China is using too narrow a definition of death attributable to COVID-19. According to WHO guidelines, COVID-19 should be listed if the disease “caused, or is assumed to have caused, or contributed to death.”

“We still do not have complete data,” Ryan said. “We do not discourage doctors and nurses reporting these deaths or these cases.”  

Ryan added that even though there don’t appear to be any new variants circulating in the country, poor surveillance and poor vaccine coverage will lead to missed cases and more deaths. 

During the same briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated calls for more data transparency from Chinese authorities.

“We continue to ask China for more rapid, regular, reliable data on hospitalizations and deaths, as well as more comprehensive, real-time viral sequencing,” Tedros said. 

“WHO is concerned about the risk to life in China and has reiterated the importance of vaccination, including booster doses to protect against hospitalization, severe disease and death,” he added.

Last month, China abruptly ended its “zero-COVID” strategy amid nationwide protests, which has resulted in infections surging without an adequate health infrastructure or enough vaccinations in place. At the same time, Chinese health authorities are reporting extremely low levels of deaths.

As a result, several countries have announced COVID-19 measures for travelers coming from China amid growing concerns of the lack of data on daily infections in the country and the spread of new variants. 

A new Biden administration policy beginning Jan. 5 will require all passengers departing China for the U.S. to produce a negative PCR test taken no more than 48 hours ahead of time, regardless of vaccination status or nationality.

While the policy has been criticized as ineffective by some public health experts, Tedros has endorsed the measure.

“With circulation in China so high and comprehensive data not forthcoming … it is understandable that some countries are taking steps they believe will protect their own citizens,” Tedros said.