Space Travel News  
EPIDEMICS
WHO seeks more China Covid data, praises US 'transparency'
by AFP Staff Writers
Geneva (AFP) Jan 11, 2023

The WHO reiterated Wednesday the need for China to share more data on its explosive Covid outbreak, while praising Washington's "radical transparency" in its efforts to battle a new sub-variant.

The World Health Organization has repeatedly voiced concern that China's official statistics are not showing the true impact of its current surge in Covid cases.

"WHO still believes that deaths are heavily underreported from China," its emergencies director Michael Ryan told reporters.

He blamed Beijing's narrow definition of what constitutes a Covid death, and also pointed to "the need for doctors in the public health system to be encouraged to report these cases, and not discouraged."

In contrast, he hailed the cooperation of authorities in the United States, where the new Omicron sub-variant XBB.1.5 is spreading rapidly.

"There's been radical transparency on behalf of the United States in terms of engaging with the WHO regarding the data and the impact of that data," he said.

Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead on Covid, said Washington had supplied virtually all the data available so far on XBB.1.5, the most transmissible form of Covid so far.

The sub variant, detected in 38 countries, clearly has a "growth advantage" over other forms of the virus, she told reporters. It is also believed to be better at dodging immunity protections from prior infection or vaccines.

"We don't yet have data on severity," she added.

- World 'cannot close its eyes' -

In China, meanwhile, Ryan warned that despite increased collaboration, "we still do not have adequate information to make a full comprehensive risk assessment."

China abruptly dropped its "zero-Covid" approach last month after three years of enforcing some of the harshest anti-pandemic restrictions in the world. That unleashed a wave of infections that has packed hospitals and overwhelmed crematoriums.

But according to official figures, only 37 Covid-related deaths have been recorded in China since last month out of a population of 1.4 billion.

Faced with such discrepancies, the agency has expressed sympathies with countries that have opted to demand Covid tests from travellers from China.

"In the absence of data, countries have made a decision to take a precautionary approach and (WHO has) said that that is understandable in the circumstances," Ryan said.

Chinese officials however do not appear keen on changing their methodology.

"I don't think it is necessary to look into the cause of death for every case at present," epidemiologist Liang Wannian, head of a government-appointed expert panel, told journalists Wednesday.

"The key task during the pandemic should be treatment."

The UN health agency also expressed concern that China, but also many other countries, were not focusing enough on the testing and sequencing needed to help detect possible new variants of the virus.

Since the peak of the Omicron wave last year, "the number of sequences being shared has dropped by more than 90 percent, and the number of countries sharing sequences has fallen by a third," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

Yet as Covid had continued to kill between 10,000 and 14,000 people each week, since September, he said "the world cannot close its eyes and hope this virus will go away.

"It won't."


Related Links
Epidemics on Earth - Bird Flu, HIV/AIDS, Ebola


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


EPIDEMICS
'Not necessary' to dwell on Covid death tally, Chinese experts say
Beijing (AFP) Jan 11, 2023
Chinese health officials said Wednesday it was "not necessary" to dwell on the exact number of Covid deaths in the country, days after the World Health Organization criticised authorities' accounting of a surge in cases there. China abruptly dropped its "zero-Covid" approach last month after three years of enforcing some of the harshest anti-pandemic restrictions in the world, unleashing a wave of infections that has packed hospitals and overwhelmed crematoriums. However, official figures have b ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

EPIDEMICS
EPIDEMICS
Moving along the Marker Band: Sols 3705-3707

A New Year on Mars and a Brand-New Workspace: Sols 3702-3704

A Scuff for the New Year: Sols 3699-3702

MOXIE sets consecutive personal bests and Mars records for oxygen production

EPIDEMICS
Chinese scientists discover ubiquitous, increasing ferric iron on lunar surface

General Atomics awarded contract from Advanced Space for Cislunar Spacecraft for AFRL Oracle Program

South Korea's lunar orbiter sends photos of Earth, Moon

ispace executes second orbital control maneuver

EPIDEMICS
SwRI delivers innovative instrument for NASA's Europa Clipper mission

PSI Io Input/Output observatory discovers large volcanic outburst on Jupiter's moon Io

Mix a space juice to celebrate ESA's Juice mission

Juno spacecraft recovering memory after 47th Flyby of Jupiter

EPIDEMICS
Astronomers use 'little hurricanes' to weigh and date planets around young stars

Assembly begins on NASA's next tool to study exoplanets

What it would take to discover life on Saturn's icy moon Enceladus

Kepler's first exoplanet is spiraling toward its doom

EPIDEMICS
Heat shield inspections underway on Artemis I Orion spacecraft

Virgin Orbit completes final End-to-end Rehearsal for first UK launch

Sidus Space awarded Bechtel Cable Assembly contract for Mobile Launcher 2

SpaceX rocket carries 114 satellites in first launch of 2023

EPIDEMICS
First rocket launch of the New Year leaves Wenchang for space

Space contractors release China's launch plans for 2023

China's space exploration spurred by helping humanity

China not in 'space race', industry insiders say

EPIDEMICS
Once in 50,000-year comet may be visible to the naked eye

Construction Begins on NASA's Next-Generation Asteroid Hunter

HAARP to bounce signal off asteroid in NASA experiment

How Hera asteroid mission will phone home









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.