WHO chief says 'very concerned' about evolving situation in China

Washington, Dec 21: The World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday expressed his concerns regarding the massive increase in COVID-19 cases in China, urging Beijing to provide detailed information about the severity of the situation.

During a weekly news conference, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the WHO is focused on helping governments all around the world in their fight against the infection and the first step will be to make sure that everyone is completely vaccinated.

"The WHO is very concerned over the evolving situation in China, with increasing reports of severe disease," Ghebreyesus told reporters during the briefing according to Reuters.

"We continue to call on China to share the data and conduct the studies we have requested, and which we continue to request. As I have said many times before, all hypotheses about the origins of Covid19 pandemic remain on the table," he said in a press conference according to a report by Associated Press.

"In order to make a comprehensive risk assessment of the situation on the ground, the WHO needs more detailed information on disease severity, hospital admissions and requirements for intensive care unit support. The WHO is supporting China to focus its efforts on vaccinating people at the highest risk across the country, and we continue to offer our support for clinical care and protecting its health system," he added.

He asserted that that we are in a much better place with the COVID19 pandemic than we were a year ago, when we were in the early stages of the Omicron wave, with rapidly increasing cases and deaths.

Tedros notifies there are still too many uncertainties and gaps for us to say the pandemic is over. These include