CHINA’S state media played down the severity of its surge of Covid-19 infections on Tuesday (Jan 3), ahead of a briefing later in the day by its scientists to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO expects detailed data on the evolution of the virus. Since its abrupt U-turn in Covid controls on Dec 7, China has come under increasing scrutiny both at home and abroad for the accuracy of its case and mortality data, prompting some places to impose travel curbs on arrivals from the country.

China’s policy shift came after widespread protests over the “zero Covid” approach championed by President Xi Jinping, which were the strongest show of public defiance in his decade of leadership. The demonstrations also coincided with the slowest growth in the nation in nearly half a century.

As the virus spreads unchecked across the world’s most populous country, funeral parlours report a spike in demand for their services, and international health experts predict that there will be at least one million Covid-related deaths there this year.

China reported three new Covid deaths on Monday, bringing its official death toll since the pandemic began to 5,253.

On Tuesday, the People’s Daily, which is the Communist Party’s official newspaper, cited Chinese experts who said that the illness caused by the virus was relatively mild for most people.

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Tong Zhaohui, vice-president of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, told the paper: “Severe and critical illnesses account for 3 to 4 per cent of infected patients currently admitted to designated hospitals in Beijing.” 

Kang Yan, head of West China Tianfu Hospital of Sichuan University, said that in the past three weeks, a total of 46 patients had been admitted to intensive care units. This was about 1 per cent of symptomatic infections.

A Reuters witness said that on Tuesday, the emergency area at the Zhongshan Hospital in Shanghai was packed with patients, most of them elderly. Some were in beds in the corridor, covered with blankets and receiving intravenous treatment, while dozens were queuing around them, waiting to be seen by a doctor. It was unclear how many were there because of Covid.

‘Connect with the world’

The WHO has urged Chinese health officials to regularly share specific and real-time information on the Covid situation in China. It invited Chinese scientists to present detailed data on viral sequencing at a technical advisory group meeting on Tuesday.

It has also asked China to share data on hospitalisations, deaths and vaccinations.

Alexandra Martiniuk, an epidemiologist at the University of Sydney, said: “Scientists around the world believe it to be most useful that all countries engage in testing and sequencing for variants, and to transparently and immediately share their data globally. 

“In this respect, the WHO meeting (with China) on Jan 3 could be significant.”

China has rejected criticism that its Covid data is inaccurate, and said that any new mutations may be more infectious but less harmful.

State broadcaster CCTV commented: “According to the political logic of some people in Europe and the United States, whether China opens or does not open is equally the wrong thing to do.”

The US, France and other countries have announced Covid test requirements for travellers from China, while Belgium said that it would test wastewater from planes for new variants of the disease.

European Union health officials will meet on Wednesday to discuss a coordinated response.

A 25-year-old Shanghai resident surnamed Ruan said that she was in favour of China sharing its Covid data and working with the world to fight the illness.

“You always have to connect with the world. It’s better to study it together and prepare for the future,” she said.

‘Dangerous weeks’

As Chinese workers and shoppers fall ill, concerns about near-term growth prospects in the world’s second-largest economy mount, causing volatility in global financial markets.

Data released on Tuesday showed that China’s factory activity shrank at a sharper pace in December.

Shipments from Foxconn’s Zhengzhou iPhone plant last month, disrupted by worker departures and unrest amid a Covid outbreak, were 90 per cent of the company’s initial plans.

International Monetary Fund head Kristalina Georgieva said that a “bushfire” of infections in China in the coming months would likely hurt its economy this year and drag global growth lower.

Meanwhile, Capital Economics analysts warned that “China is entering the most dangerous weeks of the pandemic”.

They added that mobility data suggested that economic activity was depressed nationwide, and would likely remain so until infections subsided.

China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism said the domestic tourism market saw 52.7 million trips during the New Year holiday, only 43 per cent of the 2019 level, before the pandemic.

The ministry added that the revenue generated was more than 26.5 billion yuan, (S$5.2 billion), up 4 per cent year on year but just 35 per cent of the 2019 revenue.

Expectations are higher for Chinese New Year – the country’s biggest holiday – later this month, when some experts predict that infections will have peaked in many places.

Some hotels in the tourist resort of Sanya are fully booked for the period, Chinese media reported. REUTERS