As China emerges from its COVID-zero cocoon, the country is experiencing an unprecedented surge in cases that's fuelling global concern over new variants.
With mass testing clinics shut, and the National Health Commission (NHC) no longer releasing daily figures on COVID-19 infections and deaths, there are growing doubts about the reliability of China's data.
A senior World Health Organization (WHO) official told a briefing this week that the official figures "under-represent the true impact of the disease" in terms of hospital and ICU admissions as well as deaths.