January 11, 2023

China must collaborate with transparent COVID data

topic:	Health and Sanitation
located:	China
editor:	Sun Ma

While the world has just welcomed the new year after two years of muted events due to the pandemic, China, who strictly enforced its Zero-COVID policy until last November, is facing a record surge of infections after removing the restrictions. Instead of raising the alarm to the international community, China narrowed its definition of what counts as a COVID death and subsequently reopened its border, which noticeably confused the world.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 250 million people, or 18 percent of the population, were infected in the first 20 days of December after the abrupt easing of pandemic restrictions. However, China's National Health Commission only reported 62,592 symptomatic COVID cases over the same period, which raised concerns about the reliability of the figures. The Chinese officials, unsurprisingly, stopped publishing daily case-data and, until early January, only reported around 30 deaths since the easing.

The World Health Organisation criticised China's under-representation of the true impact of the diseases in terms of hospital admissions, ICU admissions and deaths. “We believe that definition is too narrow,” the WHO Emergencies Director Michael Ryan said last Wednesday. In particular, international experts, scientists and medical leaders urged China to disclose transparent and realistic COVID data.

Although Beijing later hit back, insisting it has “always shared relevant information and data with the international community,” it would be unwise for the authorities to retain its dogged insistence. While investigations into the origins of COVID are still unsettled and Beijing denied participation in a second phase of inquiry, the WHO had already called for transparency and cooperation from China back in 2021. Another refusal of cooperation with the international community will only further discredit China as a responsible world power.

Besides, as Chinese Lunar New Year is approaching, China’s Chunyun period, a notable travel rush, has already kicked off: over 2 billion passengers are expected to take trips over the coming month. This represents the world’s largest annual migration of people. Despite the authorities’ claims that infections in large cities peaked a week ago, Chunyun travel has raised concerns for a further explosion of cases - if not a new coronavirus variant.

To save human lives and liberate the world population from the shadow of COVID-19, every country must collaborate transparently, especially populous ones like China. The only solution is that Chinese authorities open up to assistance and be honest about its health data so that the world could provide adequate medicine and personnel to fight the common enemy.

At the same time, Beijing ought to welcome foreign-made vaccines given they have proven to be more effective, instead of sticking to domestically produced jabs out of national pride. When it comes to humans versus another pandemic, speed is of utmost importance. If Beijing willingly fights the spread together with the rest of the world, global society will hopefully resume normally in the near future.

Photo by Joshua Fernandez

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