Ahead Of The Chinese New Year, WHO Cooperates With China To Manage COVID-19 Risks: Please Open Data

Illustration of COVID-19 in China. (Wikimedia Commons/Walter Grassroot)

JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is working with China to manage the risk of COVID-19, when people travel for Chinese New Year celebrations.

COVID-19 spread uncontrollably in China after the country lifted its zero-COVID policy in December, but the WHO said it still didn't have enough information from China to make a full assessment of the danger of the spike.

It is also a problem in working with China, on how to reduce travel risks ahead of the Lunar New Year general holiday, which officially takes place from January 21, the WHO said.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, holidays during the Chinese New Year were known as the largest annual migration in the world.

"We have worked with our Chinese counterparts," said Abdi Rahman Mahamud, director of the WHO Department of Alert & Response Coordination, who said the country also has a number of strategies for people traveling from high-risk areas to low-risk areas.

"But to understand better, we need that data," he added.

The WHO also said China still did not report deaths from COVID-19, although it is now providing more information about the outbreak.

"There is some very important information gap that we are working on with China to fill," said COVID-19 technical leader Maria Van Kerkhove.

Meanwhile, China says it has been transparent with its COVID-19 data.

China's National Health Commission said the country's officials had exchanged views with WHO on Wednesday morning in video conferencing on various issues, including the current epidemic situation, medical care, vaccinations and other technical issues.