COVID-19 is spreading unchecked in China after the country lifted its zero-COVID policy in December, but the WHO said it still does not have enough information from China to make a full assessment of the dangers of the surge.
That is also an issue in working with China on how to mitigate the risks of travel ahead of the Lunar New Year public holiday, which officially runs from Jan. 21, the WHO said. The"We've been working with our China colleagues," said Abdi Rahman Mahamud, director of the WHO's alert & response coordination department, who said the country has a number of strategies around people travelling from high-risk to low-risk areas as well as around testing and clinics.
"There are some very important information gaps that we are working with China to fill," said COVID-19 technical lead, Maria Van Kerkhove.The country's National Health Commission said Chinese officials had exchanged views with the WHO earlier on Wednesday in a video conference on issues including the current epidemic situation, medical treatment, vaccination and other technical matters.The WHO also said it would soon publish a risk assessment on the XBB.1.
Emergencies director Mike Ryan praised the United States for the "radical transparency" of its data on the variant's spread. He said that was one reason why the WHO has not backed measures to monitor incoming travellers from the United States, while it has described as "understandable" similar steps taken by some countries for travellers from China, including COVID-19 testing andReporting by Raghav Mahobe in Bengaluru, Jennifer Rigby in London and Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber in Geneva Editing by Peter Graff and Toby...
Chinese new year not lunar new year
How does it work? And will it work?
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