The World Health Organization has said it is “very concerned” about a spike in severe Covid-19 cases in China and called on Beijing to step up its vaccination programme, especially among vulnerable groups.
Many cities in China are grappling with the rapid spread of coronavirus following the lifting of most Covid-19 restrictions after China aggressively pursued a zero-Covid policy for more than two years.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general, who was speaking at the organisation’s end-of-year press conference on Wednesday, said it wanted more data to be made available on disease severity, hospital admissions and occupancy rates at intensive care units.