key points
- China says nearly 60,000 people with COVID-19 have died in hospital since it abandoned its zero-COVID policy last month.
- China has been criticised for under-reporting COVID deaths.
- Official says emergency hospitalisations have peaked.
In early December, Beijing abruptly dismantled its strict three-year anti-virus regime of frequent testing, travel curbs and mass lockdowns after widespread protests in late November, and cases have surged since then across the nation of 1.4 billion.
Between 8 December and 12 January, the number of COVID-related deaths in Chinese hospitals totalled 59,938, Jiao Yahui, head of the Bureau of Medical Administration under the National Health Commission (NHC), told a media briefing.
People undergo treatment in a corridor of a hospital in Shanghai, China, on 13 January 2023. Between 8 December and 12 January, China reported nearly 60,000 COVID-related deaths in hospitals across the country. Source: AAP / EPA
Of those fatalities, 5,503 were caused by respiratory failure due to COVID-19, and the remainder resulted from a combination of COVID-19 and other diseases, she said.
The World Health Organization, which earlier this week said that China was heavily under-reporting deaths from the virus and called for more information, on Saturday welcomed Beijing’s announcement while renewing its plea for more detailed data.
“The reported data indicate a decline in case numbers, hospitalisations, and those requiring critical care,” it said, commenting on Beijing’s numbers.
A health worker leaves the mortuary at a hospital while another person enters the premises in Shanghai, China, on 13 January 2023. Source: EPA / EPA
While international health experts have predicted at least one million COVID-related deaths this year, China had previously reported just over 5,000 deaths since the pandemic began, one of the lowest death rates in the world.
China, which last reported daily COVID-19 death figures on Monday, has repeatedly defended the veracity of its data on the disease.
Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, said the tenfold increase in deaths announced on Saturday suggested China’s COVID policy reversal “is indeed associated with” a sharp rise in severe cases and deaths, especially among older people.
Despite worries about infections, air passenger volumes in China have recovered to 63 per cent of 2019 levels since the annual travel season began on 7 January, the industry regulator said on Friday.
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