With Mounting Global Pressure, China Introduces Random and Spot Checks at Health and Medical Institutions
China has amped up measures to check the spread of Covid and anomalies in Covid-related reports through random and spot checks amidst pressure from global authorities.
As global authorities call for more transparency from China in light of the sudden surge in Covid cases in the country in the past few weeks. As a result, officials of the Chinese health department have planned random and spot checks at medical facilities across the country to probe deeper into the under-reported and incomplete COVID-19 data. A few weeks ago, a woman in Chongqing tested positive for a virus with features of two Omicron strains, causing a massive stir globally.
For quite some months, China had been under the fire of countries and health experts as they were accused of not being open and forthcoming with COVID data, emphasizing official numbers around deaths and severe hospitalizations. Recently, China was urged by the advisors to the World Health Organization to reveal all information pertaining to the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently speculations arose after a new analysis of the genetic material collected from the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China, from January to March 2020 showed animal DNA in samples that were already proven to be positive for SARS-CoV-2.
According to WHO officials, a significant amount of that DNA was known to have belonged to raccoon dogs that were traded in the market. The connection to this species came to be highlighted after a group of Chinese researchers shared raw genetic sequences in swabbed specimens collected from the market early during the pandemic. These sequences were uploaded at the data-sharing site GISAID in late January 2023 but were soon taken down.
According to the new measures planned by the National Health Commission, provincial governments will be charged with random inspections and supervisions daily in those areas that include vaccination management at health centers and medical institutions, and also keep track of the receipt and storage of new COVID vaccines.
Additionally, the governments have been mandated to monitor whether the reports regarding the virus infections have in any way been concealed or tampered with. They are also to escalate medical waste management and biosecurity management of pathogenic microbiology laboratories.
The authorities have urged the government to seek financial support to ensure that these random checks are carried out properly.
I am Dale Joines and i am passionate about business and finance news with over 4 years in the industry starting as a writer working my way up into senior positions. I am the driving force behind guruobserver.com with a vision to broaden the company’s readership throughout 2016. I am an editor and reporter of “Basic Materials” category.
