WHO appeals for more COVID-19 information from China

BEIJING (AP) — The World Health Organization has appealed to China to keep releasing information about its wave of COVID-19 infections after the government announced nearly 60,000 deaths since early December following weeks of complaints it was failing to tell the world what was happening.

Saturday’s announcement was the first official death since December, when the Communist Party announced it had dropped anti-virus restrictions despite an increase in infections that had flooded hospitals. The WHO and other governments were left asking for information while the United States, South Korea, and others placed restrictions on Chinese visitors.

According to the government, 5,503 people died from respiratory failure due to COVID-19. Between Dec. 8th and Jan. 12, there were 54,435 deaths from cancer, heart disease, and other illnesses combined with COVID-19.

The announcement “allows for a better understanding of the epidemiological situation,” said a WHO statement. Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus, WHO director general, called Ma Xiaowei as Health Minister.

“WHO requested that this type of detailed information continued to be shared with us and the public,” the agency said.

The National Health Commission said only deaths in hospitals were counted, which means anyone who died at home wouldn’t be included. It did not indicate when or if it would release updated figures.

A health official said the “national emergency peak has passed” based on an 83% decline in the daily number of people going to fever clinics from a Dec. 23 high.

The report would more than double China’s official COVID-19 death toll to 10,775 since the disease was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019. China’s official death toll excludes deaths due to pneumonia or respiratory failure, and does not include many other fatalities that could be linked to the virus.