China Stop Publicing COVID-19 Data Starting Today

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

BEIJING - Health authorities in China from Sunday, December 25, 2022, will no longer broadcast the latest data on COVID-19 cases.

China's Centers for Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (CDC) will release various issues related to COVID-19 for research and reference enrichment purposes, according to China's National Health Commission (NHC).

The decision to stop publishing COVID-19 data comes amid doubts about the reliability of data released by Chinese authorities as the number of cases surged after strict restrictions were suddenly relaxed, according to a Reuters report.

Meanwhile, several photos of the results of the CT scan of COVID-19 patients in Beijing City and Hebei Province have gone viral on a number of Chinese social media since Saturday, December 24.

The photos show white spots on the patient's lungs.

Some uploads say that the white spots were not caused by the Omicron variant, but the original variant detected in Wuhan.

The photos sparked concern and panic in the community.

Some health experts are trying to calm the public by stating that white spots on the lungs are a normal symptom for severe COVID-19 patients.

According to research into several cases of COVID-19, one of the results of the CT scan was the emergence of a ground glass opacity (GGO), an abnormal condition in the lungs characterized by a white or gray area.

Under normal conditions, the results of the CHT scan of the lungs appear to be black.

Health authorities in Beijing said the spike in COVID-19 cases since November was dominated by the BF.7 subvariant.

Hospitals and health clinics in Beijing are still under pressure by the increasing number of new subvariant transmission cases from Omicron.

The same thing happened in several other areas, such as Hebei, Hainan, Qingdao, and Anhui.

The peak of the spike in COVID-19 cases in China is expected to occur during the Lunar New Year homecoming season in January-February 2023.

After passing that period, China will return to normal, according to local health experts.

Even in Beijing, the pressure on health facilities has begun to ease when compared to conditions earlier this month.

Since December 7, Chinese authorities have relaxed anti-pandemic policies after studying that the fatality rate of Omicron is lower than other variants.