China’s National Health Commission announced on Sunday that it will not yet release daily data on COVID-19 infections and deaths A sharp increase in the number of injured following a sudden easing of strict restrictions.
“The China Center for Disease Control and Prevention will release COVID-related information for reference and research matters,” the commission said in a statement, without specifying the reasons for the change or how often the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention will release it. disease control and prevention Prevention updates information related to COVID-19.
The National Health Commission halted publication The total daily number of infections and deaths with growing concern On the lack of critical information since Beijing made sweeping changes to its “zero Covid policy” that imposed severe lockdowns on hundreds of millions of its citizens and hit the world’s second-largest economy.
Despite the record increase in infections, the National Health Commission did not record any COVID-19 deaths nationwide for four consecutive days before the data was cut.
China limits its classification of corona deaths to those who died of pneumonia or lung failure due to virus infection.
British health data company Irventi estimated last week that China was recording more than 1 million infections and 5,000 deaths a day.
After COVID-19 infections broke daily records in late November, the Health Commission this month stopped recording asymptomatic infections, making it difficult to track infections.
The US is also reporting fewer HIV infections and updates are becoming weekly instead of daily, citing a need to reduce the burden of reporting infections in local areas.
The World Health Organization has not received any data from China on new coronavirus hospitalizations since Beijing eased its restrictions. The organization says the data gap could be due to authorities’ difficulties counting cases in the world’s most populous country.
After years of applying very strict restrictions to fight the disease, Chinese President Xi Jinping has abandoned his policy known as zero Covid and is currently focusing on the country’s exit plan from that period, with Hong Kong intending to reopen China’s borders.
The sudden easing of Covid restrictions, including the dismantling of the mass testing system, has left citizens confused and frustrated by the rise in cases where official figures didn’t reflect it.
