The World Health Organization said China remains reluctant to share data essential for the agency to carry out risk assessments of the current state of the pandemic. The agency also said it needs the information so it can adjust its life-saving advice and guidance.
WHO officials have held a series of high-level meetings with their Chinese counterparts in the recent weeks. Despite that, they said they believe China still is under-reporting the true impact of the disease, which is surging in the country.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the pandemic is on the decline. However, he warned that COVID-19 remains a dangerous virus to health, economies, and communities overall.
"We continue to ask China for more rapid, regular, reliable data on hospitalizations and deaths, as well as more comprehensive real time viral sequencing," said the director-general. "WHO is concerned about the risk to life in China and has reiterated the importance of vaccination including booster shots to protect against hospitalization, severe disease, and death.”
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