China stops reporting daily Covid-19 tally as data criticism intensifies

BEIJING – China has not updated its daily Covid-19 reports for three days, adding to global concerns that the information vacuum is masking the true impact of the world’s biggest outbreak.

The last time the country published its daily Covid-19 situation update, including cases and the number of severely ill patients and deaths, was on Monday.

While there has not been an official notification about the cessation, health officials said in December that China would switch to monthly reports as part of its downgrade of virus management, without providing a specific date for the change.

The lack of information on the impact of

China’s abrupt pandemic pivot in December

is fueling concerns around the world that the unmitigated spread of the virus could seed mutations, and has prompted a slew of countries to introduce measures targeting travellers from the country.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organisation renewed its call for more Covid-19 data from China and

emphasised the need to share information about the strains circulating,

as well as whether cases are rising or falling in certain cities and rural areas.

The apparent end of the daily report in the middle of a record wave of infections stands at odds with other countries that continue to release information publicly even after shifting to living with Covid-19.

Major regional hubs in Asia, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and South Korea, report daily figures.

New Zealand continued to report Covid-19 cases daily for months after their reopening before switching to weekly releases.

After the initial Wuhan outbreak that overwhelmed the health system in early 2020, China’s daily updates became the gold standard for information on every infection in the country due to the extensive testing and tracing efforts that underpinned

the government’s zero-Covid policy.

But the case numbers became unreliable over the last month after China dropped mass testing and other control measures. And its fatalities figures have drawn criticism due to a narrow definition of what officials consider a Covid-19 death.

China has reported fewer than 40 deaths since the major pivot away from zero-Covid in early December. But the tally contrasts with on-the-ground reports of

overwhelmed funeral parlours and crematoriums across the country.

In Monday’s report, officials said there were 7,557 severe cases nationwide, an increase of more than 1,100 from a day earlier. There were about 14,000 new confirmed cases on Sunday. BLOOMBERG