The World Health Organisation (WHO) has invited Chinese scientists to present detailed data on viral sequencing at a meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution slated to be held on January 3, amid the surge in COVID-19 cases.

On Friday, WHO and China held a high-level meeting about the current surge in COVID-19 cases, to seek further information on the situation and to offer WHO's expertise and further support, the WHO said in a statement. 

WHO has called on China to strengthen viral sequencing, clinical management and impact assessment, and expressed willingness to provide support on these areas, as well as on risk communications on vaccination to counter hesitancy.

WHO also stressed the importance of monitoring and the timely publication of data to help China and the global community to formulate accurate risk assessments and to inform effective responses.

On Friday, WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a series of tweets, said that the WHO remains concerned about the evolving COVID-19 situation.

"We continue encouraging #China to track the #COVID19 virus and vaccinate the highest risk people. We continue to offer our support for clinical care and protecting its health system. In the absence of comprehensive information from #China, it is understandable that countries around the world are acting in ways that they believe may protect their populations. As I said at our most recent press conference - in order to make a comprehensive risk assessment of the #COVID19 situation on the ground in #China, @WHO needs more detailed information," the WHO director general tweeted on Friday.