Concerned about China's handling of Covid-19, says Joe Biden

The United States is concerned about Chinas handling of COVID19 US President Joe Biden said Wednesday and noted that Beijing is not that forthcomingWell yes I am Biden told reporters when asked if he was concerned about the COVID19 situation in China The US along with India and several countries have imposed restrictions on travellers from ChinaI think we just got to make the protocol we set out that if youre flying from China you got to be tested and so on he saidChina has not beenI know theyre very sensitivewhen we suggest they havent been that forthcoming Biden said in response to a questionState Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters that when Covid is spreading anywhere but especially in a country as populous and as large as China of course there is the potential for variants to emergeWe have seen variants emerge apparently from other regions of the world that have ultimately reached the United States he saidAlso Read Joe Biden Japanese PM Kishida to meet at White House on January 13 to discuss North Korea Indo PacificThis is a transnational all public health threats are by their very definition transnational We want to do all we can to see to it that the PRC gets this under control and to put in place prudent steps so that we do everything we can to prevent the spread of any potential variants should they emerge beyond any countrys borders Price saidMeanwhile the World Health Organization said it believes that China is undercounting its Covid cases The US Price said is not going to characterize discussions between China and the WHO Those discussions took place on TuesdaySenior WHO officials have over the course of the day characterized not only those discussions but their assessment of what they have seen but more appropriately what they have not seen from the PRC We have seen the statement from the WHOs emergencies director that the current numbers being published in China underrepresent the true impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions in terms of ICU admissions particularly in terms of deaths Price saidI believe the same official went on to say that we still do not have complete data That of course is the WHOs assessment They are in the best position to make an assessment because PRC officials recently took part in discussions with them that included a formal presentation When it comes to the WHO the WHO is an indispensable organization he notedIt is an organization that is at all times important It is especially important in the midst of what still continues to be a pandemic that is having implications the world over not only in terms of illness and death but in terms of the knockon effects the economic effects the inflationary pressures the supply chain disruptions as well he addedThis is an organization that canbe extraordinarily useful in terms of building up resilience so that the world can be prepared for the emergence of the next outbreak hopefully in staunching it before it becomes an epidemic or at worst a pandemic he saidLike all organizations of course we believe there it is possible to optimize its operations From the earliest day literally of this administration we reengaged with the WHO out of the knowledge of its indispensability but also out of the belief that through reengagement we could help the WHO in its efforts to fulfil its important mandate Price saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever