Beijing has confirmed that since the beginning of December, when China began to abandon strict restrictions, Covid-19 has caused almost 60 thousand deaths, Politico reports.
So far, Chinese authorities have reported just a few deaths a week linked to the coronavirus, raising doubts among health experts elsewhere in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has questioned China’s official figures, and reports from various parts of China show long queues at crematoria and even longer at hospitals. In certain regions of the country, 80–90 percent of the population is infected.
At a press conference on Saturday, the 14th of January, the head of the Bureau of Medical Administration informed that 59,938 deaths caused by Covid-19 had been registered between the 8th of December and the 12th of January.
The WHO has called on Beijing to continue sharing information and more accurate data. The WHO statement said that the overall picture reflects the same wave of morbidity as it was in other countries.
According to Chinese officials, the average age of those dying since the beginning of December has been 80, and 90 percent of those who died were over 65. Most deaths are related to other underlying diagnoses.
China has received extensive criticism for the lack of transparency and incomplete data on the Covid-19 wave in the country. In December, China changed its approach to allowing death to be caused by Covid-19, and officially considered only respiratory arrest directly caused by the virus as such. WHO believes that this view is too narrow.
Read also: Lithuania will follow EU recommendations on travelers from China