The World Health Organisation received data from China on new Covid-19 hospitalisations after a reporting gap, with figures on Thursday showing a nearly 50 per cent increase in the week to January. 1.

The UN health agency received no data from China in the weeks after Beijing lifted its zero-Covid policy in early December, prompting some health experts to question whether it might be hiding information on the extent of its outbreak. The WHO’s latest report showed 22,416 new hospitalisations for mainland China in the week to Jan. 1 versus 15,161 the previous week. This was still below the all-time peak of nearly 29,000 admissions in early December.