Washington should disclose epidemic info

People walk on Times Square in New York, the United States, Nov 23, 2021. [PhotoXinhua]

The XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron strain of the novel coronavirus has been spreading so quickly in the United States that infections caused by it now account for 43 percent of the fatal infections nationwide.

According to the statistics of the Global Influenza Shared Database (GISAID), a publicly accessible database designed to improve the sharing of influenza data, almost all the variants of the virus have been prevalent in the US. Why is the US so attractive to the virus variants? How could XBB.1.5 spread so quickly? The US needs to share information and data about its epidemic situation timely and transparently with the world.

It takes global efforts to fight the pandemic and every nation is responsible for sharing the information of any new variant they find. According to GISAID, the first reported XBB.1.5 infections can be traced back to New York and Connecticut in October, and now it has spread to at least 74 countries and regions. CNN quoted experts as saying that the variant highly possibly originated in the US.

For three years, there have been countless blames against the US for its lack of transparency, even data fabrication. As early as July 2020, the British Medical Journal published an essay that said the novel coronavirus infections in the US neared 4 million, higher than the 2.67 million in the US government report. In March 2021, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control Tom Friedan said that lack of timely, accurate information is one of the US' biggest failures in coping with the pandemic. In May 2022, the NBC said that the number of COVID-19 infections might have been underestimated in the US.

For three years, the US has always been insincere, irresponsible in publishing its pandemic information. For which, not only has it paid a huge price, but also the rest of the world.

The World Health Organization has confirmed XBB.1.5 as being the most infectious among all Omicron subvariants and has warned about the danger of more people being infected. The US should stop concealing information and make everything transparent. The world has the right to know the truth.