HQ Team
December 21, 2022: The World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he is concerned about a spike in COVID-19 infections in China and the government should ramp up its efforts s on vaccinating high-risk people across the country
The world’s second-largest economy is facing a severe Covid infection wave, with projections of more than 60 percent of its population getting infected and nearly one million deaths in the coming months.
“The WHO is very concerned over the evolving situation in China, with increasing reports of severe disease,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.
Tedros said the agency needed more detailed information on disease severity, hospital admissions and requirements for intensive care units support for a comprehensive assessment of the situation.
Pain medicines disappearing
Major US pharmacies have restricted the sale of children’s pain and fever medications due to strong demand. Pharmacies in Europe, the US and China face shortages of pain relief medicine.
China is experiencing severe shortages of generic ibuprofen, and there are lengthy lines outside stores and even manufacturing facilities. The Chinese shortfall is sure to affect other parts of the world too.
Wang Guangfa, a Peking University First Hospital respiratory specialist, told the state-run Global Times newspaper that the government should act quickly and establish fever clinics and emergency treatment resources. He believes the Covid wave will peak in January and then peter down in February and March.
China’s National Health Commission also played down concerns of a virus mutation, saying that such a possibility was low.
The NHC also played down international concern about the possibility of virus mutations, saying the likelihood of new strains that are more pathogenic was low.
Paul Tambyah, President of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection, agreed.
“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.”
