There is great skepticism about the COVID data released by China and the World Health Organization (WHO) recently accused it of underplaying the seriousness of the pandemic by concealing the true nature of the situation in the country, the Hong Kong Post reported.
A senior WHO official, as quoted by The Hong Kong Post, had said: “China’s COVID data is not giving an accurate picture of the situation there and it under-represents the number of hospitalizations and deaths from the disease.”
Emergencies Director of WHO Mike Ryan said: “We believe the current numbers being published from China under-represent the true impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions, in terms of ICU admissions, particularly in terms of death.” The WHO believes that the definition of death by the Chinese government is “too narrow”.
After Beijing authorities changed their definition of COVID deaths, there is a discrepancy in the death figures claimed by the government and reports from ground. Based on the new definition, the authorities have claimed five or fewer deaths in a day.
