On Tuesday, leading advisers from the World Health Organization asked for more realistic data from China amidst the looming fear of another COVID wave. In this virtually closed meeting, top experts expressed their concern regarding the spike in COVID cases and invited several scientists from China to present data on which variants are circulating in the country.

Professor Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist, told Reuters that the data presented by the scientist on the rate of hospitalization was not very credible. She added that it is in the interest of China that they come forward with more reliable information. She also pointed out that the committee has only seen a small part of the sequenced cases from China. Hence, she advised that a global surveillance network should be established to keep track of SARS-CoV-2.

On the other hand, Dr. Tulio de Oliveira, a South African scientist and professor stated that although the data from China will help in detecting any new variant, it also applies to other countries. He added that so far, all the variants circulating in China are the offspring of the Omicron variant, which is in line with the circulating variants across the globe.