Releasing COVID Data in China... "No New Variants Detected"

Deaths and Severe Cases Decrease Compared to Last Month's Peak
Countries Respond to Concerns Over "Information Non-Disclosure and Variant Emergence"

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Kim Hyun-jung] China is continuously disclosing information on COVID-19 confirmed case trends and the emergence of variant viruses. As major countries have strengthened quarantine measures for arrivals from China, citing the non-disclosure of confirmed case data and the possibility of new variants as reasons, it is interpreted that China is responding accordingly.

On the 25th, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) posted a report titled "Nationwide COVID-19 Infection Status" on its website, stating that the number of people who died in hospitals after being infected with COVID-19 in China reached 896 as of the 23rd, a 79% sharp decrease compared to the peak earlier this month (4th, 4,273 people).

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

Furthermore, since the announcement of the easing of quarantine measures on December 9th, two days prior, the PCR test positivity rate peaked at 29.2% on the 25th of the same month and gradually decreased to 5.5% as of the 23rd of this month. The CDC explained that the number of people testing positive in PCR tests peaked at 6.94 million in one day on the 22nd of last month, and after the cessation of mass testing, the number was 15,000 on the 23rd of this month.

In addition, detailed data such as the number and rate of positive rapid antigen tests aggregated based on regional reports were also disclosed. These figures rapidly increased from the 9th of last month, reaching 337,000 (21.3%) on the 22nd, then sharply dropped to 4,773 cases (4.5%) on the 23rd. The number of people treated at fever clinics within the mainland rose to 2.867 million in one day on the 23rd of last month but decreased by 96.2% to 110,000 on the 23rd of this month. The number of hospitalized infected patients increased to 1.625 million on the 5th but decreased by 84.8% to 248,000 on the 23rd. Among hospitalized patients, severe cases dropped from 128,000 to 36,000 during the same period.

On the same day, the CDC also provided relatively detailed information on the emergence of variant viruses. Posting a report titled "Nationwide COVID-19 Infection Status" on its website, the CDC stated that genetic sequencing analysis of a total of 18,906 mainland China infection samples from September 26th last year to the 23rd of this month showed all were Omicron variants.

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

Sixty-nine subvariants derived from Omicron were detected, with BA.5.2 accounting for 70.8% and BF.7 for 23.4% of the samples. The composition ratios of 13 other variants, including BA.2.76, ranged from 0.1% to 1.3%, and the remaining 54 variants accounted for about 1.1%, according to the CDC.

Especially, introducing the variant monitoring results from December 1st last year, when COVID-19 cases surged, to the 23rd of this month, the CDC reported that among 10,165 samples, 11 cases of variants under watch were detected: one case of XBB.1, which is prevalent in the United States, one case of BQ.1.1.17, four cases of BQ.1.1, three cases of BQ.1.2, and two cases of BQ.1.8.

This data disclosure by the Chinese government is interpreted as a response to over 20 countries, including Japan, the United States, and South Korea, strengthening quarantine measures for arrivals from China due to insufficient and opaque COVID-19 data within China and the possibility of new variant virus emergence. The South Korean government has also set a deadline of the 31st for restricting short-term visa issuance to Chinese nationals and is expected to decide whether to extend this based on announcements from China.

However, criticism remains that the figures compiled by Chinese authorities are lower than actual numbers. Bloomberg News, reporting on the CDC's announcement, stated, "The Chinese government was criticized for narrowly defining 'COVID-19 deaths' and responded by including deaths from respiratory failure, but deaths occurring at home outside hospitals are still not included, and the actual death toll could be hundreds of thousands more than the government’s announced figures."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.