Beijing said Friday that its statistics on the progression of COVID have always been transparent, despite announced numbers of very low cases and deaths in the midst of a resurgence of the disease on its territory.

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"Since the outbreak of the epidemic, China has shared reliable information and data with the international community, including the WHO, in an open and transparent manner," said a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson. , Wang Wenbin.

“We shared the sequence of the new coronavirus from the start and contributed significantly to the development of reliable vaccines and drugs in other countries,” he added to the press.

These remarks follow those of the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who had called on Beijing to transmit "more detailed information", and considered "understandable" the protective measures announced by other countries towards travelers from China.

The latter is going through a wave of contamination of an unprecedented scale since the abrupt abandonment, at the beginning of the month, of its so-called “zero COVID” policy.

However, the country announced the end of mandatory quarantines on arrival in the territory from January 8 and the gradual resumption of foreign travel for Chinese. Several countries including the United States are concerned about it.

On Friday, only 5,515 new cases and one death were announced by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Figures that no longer seem to reflect reality, generalized screenings are no longer mandatory.

“China has always published its data on COVID-19 deaths and serious cases in a desire for openness and transparency,” senior health official Jiao Yahui said Thursday, quoted by the China agency. news.

In China, only patients who died of respiratory failure caused by the virus and tested positive are considered victims of COVID-19.

An official of China's anti-COVID policy, Liang Wannian, on Thursday deemed the decision scientifically appropriate, according to New China.

Other countries count patients who died within 28 days of a positive test.