How accurate are China's COVID-19 death numbers? - CNA

China's National Health Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the country's COVID statistics and excess mortality.

Even if China were to continue defining COVID deaths more broadly, the official data is still unlikely to reflect the situation on the ground, given how quickly infections are now spreading, said Chen Jiming, a medical researcher at China's Foshan University.

"The reported counts of cases and deaths are only a very small portion of the true values," he said.

Ben Cowling, an epidemiologist at the University of Hong Kong's School of Public Health, said the official death tally would be very low even if a broader definition were in use, "because so little testing is being done" now that China has discontinued mass surveillance.

On the other hand, Cowling said, labeling every person who died while positive for COVID as having died from the disease could lead to an over-count. Such an approach "can also be criticised because it can, and has, included coincidental deaths such as in people hit by a bus while having mild COVID."

Dr Mai He, a pathologist at Washington University in St. Louis who was involved in the Wuhan study published in 2020, said there was still a lack of faith in the integrity of China's numbers.

"The persistent critical issue is a lack of transparency; people cannot use their data to do research and analysis, (or) provide guidance for the next step," he told Reuters. 

The lack of trust in China's statistics is also causing panic among members of the public, said Victoria Fan, senior fellow in global health at the Center for Global Development.

"It's in the best interest of the government to be more transparent,  because a lot of the behaviors that the public is exhibiting is because they don't have information," she said.

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2022-12-22 06:33:00Z
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Biden tells Zelenskyy at White House: 'You will never stand alone' - CNA

Zelenskyy presented Biden with an award that he said was handed to him on the ground by a "real hero" - a captain on the ground of a HIMARS rocket system that has been a game-changer on the field.

"He's very brave and he said, give it to very brave president," Zelenskyy said in the Oval Office.

As Zelenskyy arrived, the United States announced another US$1.85 billion from previously budgeted funds for Ukraine, including for the first time the advanced Patriot air defence system, which is capable of shooting down cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles.

Zelenskyy voiced appreciation for the "very important step," saying the Patriot systems "will strengthen our air defence significantly".

Ukraine fears a rising onslaught of missiles and has faced a slew of attacks from drones, many bought by Russia from Iran, as Moscow pummels power plants and other civilian infrastructure just as the country shivers in the winter cold.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is "trying to use winter as a weapon, but the Ukrainian people continue to inspire the world," Biden said.

"I mean that sincerely - not just inspire us but inspire the world with their courage and how they have chosen their resilience and resolve for their future," Biden said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that new weapons deliveries would lead to an "aggravation of the conflict" and do not "bode well for Ukraine".

Speaking with senior military officials during a televised address, Putin contended that Moscow was not to blame for the invasion and agreed with an assessment that Russia needed a larger army.

"The combat capabilities of our armed forces are increasing constantly," Putin said, adding that Russia will also "improve the combat readiness of our nuclear triad."

"What is happening is, of course, a tragedy - our shared tragedy. But it is not the result of our policy. It is the result of the policy of third countries," he added.

"JUST PEACE"

The United States and Ukraine scoff at suggestions that the invasion was caused by anything other than Putin and say he is not serious about any negotiated settlement.

Both Biden and Zelenskyy said they supported a "just peace" - with the Ukrainian leader standing firm that he will not be any territorial compromise with Russia, which also seized the Crimean peninsula in 2014.
 

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2022-12-21 20:27:00Z
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China says no new COVID-19 deaths after changing criteria - CNA

"PARTICULARLY BUSY"

From the country's northeast to its southwest, crematorium workers have told AFP they are struggling to keep up with a surge in deaths.

Beijing last week admitted the scale of the outbreak has become "impossible" to track following the end of mandatory mass testing.

But authorities are determined to push ahead with re-opening, with the central city of Xi'an Tuesday joining several other major population centres in calling for infected people with no symptoms to go to work as normal.

Crematoriums in multiple Chinese cities declined AFP interview requests on Wednesday, with one in the northwestern city of Xi'an saying they were "particularly busy".

In the central city of Changsha, two companies specialising in burial clothing said they had seen an uptick in customers.

One proprietor said a COVID-19 outbreak was having "a slight effect" on his business, adding that he had been taking more orders for deceased "older people" than normal.

Others presented a more varied picture, with a staff member at a funeral services firm in the southern city of Guangzhou telling AFP that the number of customers "was always a little higher in winter".

And some were cagey when asked about the impact of COVID-19, with another such employee in the megacity of Chongqing saying it was "not easy to talk too much about this" at present.

"WE MUST ACT QUICKLY"

A leading Chinese health expert warned Tuesday that the capital will face a surge in cases over the next two weeks, which will continue until the end of January.

"We must act quickly and prepare fever clinics, emergency and severe treatment resources," Wang Guangfa, a respiratory expert from Peking University First Hospital, told the state-run Global Times.

The US has said the surge of infections in China has become a matter of international concern - and offered to share vaccines to stem the soaring COVID-19 cases.

"We know that any time the virus is spreading, that it is in the wild, that it has the potential to mutate and to pose a threat to people everywhere," State Department spokesman Ned Price said Monday.

Beijing has rebuffed the offer, insisting that the virus is under control and that "China is continuously optimizing its prevention and control measures".

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2022-12-21 09:53:57Z
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Beijing braces for surge in severe COVID-19 cases as world watches with concern - CNA

That number might rise sharply in the near future, with state-run Global Times citing a leading Chinese respiratory expert predicting a spike in severe cases in the capital over the coming weeks.

"We must act quickly and prepare fever clinics, emergency and severe treatment resources," Wang Guangfa, a respiratory expert from Peking University First Hospital, told the newspaper.

Severe cases increased by 53 across China on Tuesday (Dec 20), versus an increase of 23 the previous day. China does not provide absolute figures of severe cases.

Wang expects a peak in cases in China in late January, with life likely to return to normal by end-February or early March.

INTERNATIONAL CONCERNS

Amid doubts over China's very low COVID-19 death toll by global standards, the National Health Commission on Tuesday clarified only people whose death is caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure after contracting the virus are classified as COVID-19 deaths.

Benjamin Mazer, an assistant professor of pathology at Johns Hopkins University, said that classification would miss "a lot of cases", especially as people who are vaccinated, including with the Chinese shots, are less likely to die of pneumonia.

Blood clots and sepsis - an extreme body response to infection - have caused countless deaths among COVID-19 patients around the world.

"It doesn't make sense to apply this sort of March 2020 mindset where it's only COVID pneumonia that can kill you, when we know that in the post-vaccine era, there's all sorts of medical complications," Mazer said.

The NHC also played down concerns raised by the US and some epidemiologists over the potential for the virus to mutate, saying the possibility of new strains that are more pathogenic is low.

Paul Tambyah, President of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection, supported that view.

"I do not think that this is a threat to the world," he said. "The chances are that the virus will behave like every other human virus and adapt to the environment in which it circulates by becoming more transmissible and less virulent."

Several leading scientists and World Health Organization advisors told Reuters it may be too early to declare the end of the global COVID-19 pandemic emergency phase because of a potentially devastating wave to come in China.

Last week, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "hopeful" of an end to the emergency sometime next year.
 

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2022-12-21 03:50:00Z
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US offers COVID-19 vaccines to China to stem outbreak - CNA

WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday (Dec 20) offered to share vaccines with China to stem soaring COVID-19 cases, saying containing the outbreak was in the interest of the world.

It is unlikely that China would accept the offer from the United States, its frequent adversary, after Beijing invested heavily in COVID-19 diplomacy that included shipping its homegrown vaccines around the world.

"It's important that all countries focus on getting people vaccinated and making testing and treatment easily available," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.

"The US is the largest donor of COVID-19 vaccines around the world. We're prepared to continue to support people around the world, including in China, with this and other COVID-related health support," Price said.

"This is profoundly in the interests of the rest of the world. Our COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, and we have provided them to countries around the world, regardless or in spite of any political disagreements."

Price said that the caseload in China, the world's second largest economy, had both human and economic costs.

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2022-12-20 21:41:00Z
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'I would like to hug him': Families of missing Thai sailors await news of loved ones - CNA

Vice Admiral Pichai Lorchusakul, the regional navy commander, said finding the men on Tuesday would be critical given their time exposed to the elements.

"Life jacket, life buoy and their floating technique allow us 48 hours to save their lives," he said late on Monday. "We will try to do as much as we can to save them."

Lieutenant Colonel Pichitchai Tuannadee, captain of the sunken ship, said he was in the sea for two hours before he scrambled onto a raft and was found by search teams on Monday.

"To see something as small as a life ring or a person's head above the surface of the water, it's very hard to see with the big waves," he said, adding the missing sailors were likely to be fatigued by now from having to tread water and make sure those without vests stayed afloat.

One of the marines was found late on Monday clinging to a buoy.

"He was floating in the water for 10 hours. He was still conscious, so we could take him out of the water safely," said Captain Kraipich Korawee-Paparwit, commander of the HTMS Kraburi, one of search vessels.

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2022-12-20 12:21:00Z
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China races to bolster health system as COVID-19 surge sparks global concern - CNA

"GETTING SICK"

In Beijing, which has emerged as the main infection hot spot, commuters, many coughing into their masks, were back on the trains to work and streets were coming back to life after being largely deserted last week.

Streets in Shanghai, where COVID transmission rates are catching up with Beijing's, were emptier, and subway trains were only half-full.

"People are staying away because they are sick or they are scared of getting sick, but mostly now, I think it’s because they are actually sick,” said Yang, a trainer at a nearly empty Shanghai gym.

Top health officials have softened their tone on the threat posed by the disease in recent weeks, a U-turn from previous messaging that the virus had to be eradicated to save lives even as the rest of the world opened up.

They have also been playing down the possibility that the now predominant Omicron strain could evolve to become more virulent.

"The probability of a sudden large mutation ... is very low," Zhang Wenhong, a prominent infectious disease specialist, told a forum on Sunday in comments reported by state media.

Nevertheless, there are mounting signs the virus is buffeting China's fragile health system.

Cities are ramping up efforts to expand intensive care units and build fever clinics, facilities designed to prevent the wider spread of contagious disease in hospitals.

In the past week, major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Wenzhou announced they had added hundreds of fever clinics, some in converted sports facilities.

The virus is also hammering China's economy, expected to grow 3 per cent this year, its worst performance in nearly half a century. Workers and truck drivers falling ill are slowing down output and disrupting logistics, economists say.

A World Economics survey showed on Monday China's business confidence fell in December to its lowest since January 2013.

Weaker industrial activity in the world's top oil importer has capped gains for crude prices and driven copper lower.

China kept benchmark lending interest rates unchanged for the fourth consecutive month on Tuesday. 

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2022-12-20 04:41:00Z
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