Yeah that's how it reads to me. Basically they're acknowledging the imperfections in their reporting systems and methodologies rather than admitting to any sort of cover up. I'm inclined to take them at their word on this and I suspect we'll see similar refactoring from other countries but I will say that the article is pretty one sided and could be read as propaganda. Either way, you can expect to see this get weaponised for political purposes over the coming days because...
We are spending a lot of time though focusing on whether the number of reported deaths in other countries are correct which is what both the US and UK governments would prefer rather than focusing on our own numbers.
^that.

No, the epidemic is now pandemic every few years:
Pandemics, yes, but a pandemic on this scale probably is once in a lifetime. SARS, Ebola, MERS... none of them even came close.