China’s National Health Commission has finally come to its senses and stopped the release of misleading updates of new Covid infections but it must boost transparency to reassure the public

The misleading updates have invited widespread ridicule and damaged the reputation of the government.

Thought of the Day on China

Wang Xiangwei

At long last, China’s National Health Commission has come to its senses and stopped the release of misleading daily updates of new coronavirus infections which has invited widespread ridicule and damaged the reputation of the government.

On the morning of Christmas Day, the NHC said in a brief statement that as of today, it would no longer publish daily pandemic updates and the Chinese Centre for Disease and Control Prevention would instead release relevant information for reference and studies.

The announcement may have come about 20 days late but it is a good sign. However that does not mean the NHC should retreat from the public scene. Let's hope it would not be the case. Otherwise， it would be even worse. Ordinary people and busineses alike will rely on comprehensive and accurate data to plan their lives and work.

It must do more to boost transparency and show leadership at this time of confusion and chaos.

Ever since China did a 180-degree about-face on its zero-Covid policies and lifted almost all controls two weeks ago, infections have spread like wildfire across the country.

But until Christmas Eve, the NHC continued to release the misleading daily updates of new nationwide infections.  

On the morning of Christmas Eve, the NHC followed the daily routine and posted the number of new local confirmed Covid-19 cases at 4130 over the past 24 hours, adding that there was no new death across the country.

But the reality could not be more different.

In the first 20 days of December, almost 250 million people may have caught Covid-19 and the worst is yet to come, according to leaked notes from an internal meeting of top NCH officials held on December 21.

The estimate accounted for nearly 18 per cent of China’s population of 1.4 billion with more than half of the population in Beijing and Sichuan already infected.

The rate of Covid’s spread is expected to accelerate towards the end of this month, from the major cities to the rural areas where the public health infrastructure is the weakest.

Several local authorities were so frustrated with the NCH’s stupor that they broke the official taboo by opening talking about the exponential rise of new infections in their own jurisdictions.

On Friday, the coastal city of Qingdao (population of 9 million) in Shandong province estimated that up to 530,000 people were affected every day and the rate of the spread would continue on the base by 10 per cent on Friday and Saturday. Ren Botao, head of the local health commission warned that the worst was yet to come as the city was in the stage of infections fast spreading before the high incidences of Covid-caused illnesses kicked in.  

Meanwhile, in Dongguan (population of 7.5 million) of Guangdong province, local health officials estimated the daily number of new infections at between 250,000 and 300,000 people and the rate of Covid’s spread was gathering pace. They said the hospitals and medical staff were faced with “unprecedented” challenges and pressure as over 2500 doctors and nurses came to work while still running a fever or testing positive.

According to witness accounts and on-line reports and videos, hospitals are swamped, the death toll is soaring among the elderly, fever medicine is in short supply and morgues are overwhelmed with bodies.

Being the last major economy to reopen, China has had nearly three years to prepare for pandemic controls to be lifted and learn from other countries but it has done a terrible job so far.

It is true that some chaos is inevitable after the Covid control measures are lifted, as seen in other countries.

But the NCH appears to be woefully unprepared.

Following my previous article, I have received a note from a doctor who worked in one of Beijing’s leading hospitals. He described ER rooms packed with a shortage of staff partly because doctors and nurses were infected and sick.

“There is not much direction or communication from government, and no centralized coordination. We are left to mostly fend for ourselves as responsibility has now shifted quickly from local government and (neighborhood committees) to your health is your own responsibility”.

Indeed, at this time of confusion and chaos, clear communication from the government and the NHC in particular, would go a long way to reassure and calm the public.

In fact, the leaked notes from the internal meeting on December 21 contained elaborate and detailed instructions on the treatment of patients affected by the new outbreak. They should have been made public after the meeting was over.

But the NHC has chosen to keep the public in the dark and continued to post the ridiculous daily updates until Christmas Eve.

End