China's COVID spike not due to lifting of restrictions - WHO director

The recent explosion of COVID-19 infections in China is not due to the sudden easing by the government of its strict policy, a World Health Organization director said on Wednesday as he warned of low vaccination levels in the world's No. 2 economy. The challenge for China in getting the virus under control is getting an adequate number of people vaccinated, he said.

The recent explosion of COVID-19 infections in China is not due to the sudden easing by the government of its strict policy, a World Health Organization director said on Wednesday as he warned of low vaccination levels in the world's No. 2 economy. The WHO's emergencies director Mike Ryan said in a briefing with media that the virus was spreading "intensively" in the nation long before the lifting of restrictions.

He said "control measures" were not stopping the disease. The challenge for China in getting the virus under control is getting an adequate number of people vaccinated, he said.