ZURICH (Reuters) - The World Health Organization's head has&nbsp;spoken with&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;authorities and the agency welcomed new information about the situation in the country,&nbsp;WHO&nbsp;said on Saturday after Beijing released new&nbsp;data&nbsp;showing a big jump in&nbsp;COVID-19-related deaths.
Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus&nbsp;spoke&nbsp;with Ma Xiaowei, director of China&rsquo;s National Health Commission, about the wave of infections which erupted after the country abruptly dismantled&nbsp;its&nbsp;anti-virus regime last month.
"WHO&nbsp;appreciates this meeting, as well as the public release of information on the overall situation," the Geneva-based agency said in a statement.
"Chinese&nbsp;officials&nbsp;provided information to&nbsp;WHO&nbsp;and in a press conference on a range of topics, including outpatient clinics, hospitalizations, patients requiring emergency treatment and critical care, and hospital deaths related to&nbsp;COVID-19&nbsp;infection," it said, while also pledging further technical advice and support.
Earlier on Saturday China said nearly 60,000 people with&nbsp;COVID-19&nbsp;had died in hospital since it abandoned&nbsp;its&nbsp;zero-COVID&nbsp;policy in early December, a big jump from previously reported figures. The release follows global criticism of China's&nbsp;data.
"WHO&nbsp;is analysing this information, which covers early December 2022 to 12 January 2023, and allows for a better understanding of the epidemiological situation and the impact of this wave in China," the U.N. agency said.&nbsp;
The&nbsp;WHO&nbsp;said the epidemiology of the latest outbreak, with a rapid and intense wave of infections caused by types of the Omicron variant - which particularly affected older people or those with underlying conditions - was similar to what had been seen in other countries.
"The reported&nbsp;data&nbsp;indicate a decline in case numbers, hospitalizations, and those requiring critical care.&nbsp;WHO&nbsp;has requested a more detailed breakdown of&nbsp;data&nbsp;by province over time," the agency said.
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(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

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WHO says its chief spoke with Chinese officials, welcomes COVID-19 data