US & global health officials worried about China's lack of transparency on COVID-19

Health officials in the United States and around the world have expressed concern over China's lack of transparency regarding the spread of COVID-19 in the country. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that this lack of transparency could delay the identification of new COVID variants that could pose a threat to public health, as China is sharing very few genomic sequences that are used to identify such variants, as per a report from CNBC.

In response, the CDC has announced new testing requirements for airline passengers whose trips originate in China, with all passengers, regardless of nationality or vaccination status, required to get tested for COVID no more than two days before their flight to the US and present a negative result to the airline before departure. The requirements go into effect on January 5.

India, Italy, Japan, and Taiwan have also implemented COVID test requirements for airline passengers originating in China. The Chinese government is currently dealing with a surge of infections after easing its stringent zero-COVID policy in response to social unrest earlier this year. A US federal health official has said that the Biden administration has very limited information on the number of new COVID cases, hospitalizations, and particularly deaths in China. Testing and case reporting have also decreased in the country, making it difficult to determine the true infection rate.

Zero-COVID policy has led to low natural immunity 

China's zero-COVID policy, which sought to suppress outbreaks through severe measures, means that a large portion of the population does not have any immunity to the highly transmissible Omicron variants. As a result, the Biden administration is forecasting that a large number of people will be infected relatively quickly in China. "What we're concerned about is a new variant that may emerge actually in China," said a US federal health official who wished to remain anonymous. "With so many people in China being affected in a short period of time, there is a chance, a probability that a new variant may emerge."

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also called on China to share more information about the situation on the ground as the virus continues to spread. "WHO is very concerned over the evolving situation in China with increasing reports of severe disease," said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the global health agency, during a press briefing in Geneva last week. "In order to make a comprehensive risk assessment of the situation on the ground, WHO needs more detailed information on disease severity, hospital admissions, and requirements for ICU support," Tedros added.

The WHO largely has anecdotal reports of emergency rooms and, in some cases, intensive care units filling up in China, according to Dr. Mike Ryan, head of the global health agency's emergencies program. "We don't have complete knowledge of the impact," Ryan said of the COVID wave in China during a press conference in Geneva last week.