China said on Saturday nearly 60,000 people with Covid-19 have died in hospital since it abandoned its zero-COVID policy last month, a huge increase from previously reported figures that follows global criticism of the country’s coronavirus data.
In early December, Beijing abruptly dismantled its strict three-year anti-virus regime of frequent testing, travel curbs and mass lockdown after widespread protests in late November, and cases have increased since then across the nation of 1.4 billion.
On Saturday, a health official said that Covid fever and emergency hospitalisations had peaked and the number of hospitalised patients was continuing to decline.
Between 8 December 2022 and 12 January 2023, the number of Covid-related deaths in Chinese hospitals totalled 59,938, Jiao Yahuli, head of the Bureau of Medical Administration under the National Health Commission (NHC), told a media briefing.
Of those fatalities 5,503 were caused by respiratory failure due to Covid and the remainder resulted from a combination of Covid and other diseases, she said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), which earlier said China was under-reporting deaths from the virus and asked for more information to be shared, on Saturday welcomed Beijing’s announcement, while renewing its plea for more detailed data.
While international health experts predicted at least 1 million Covid related deaths this year, China had previously reported just over 5000 deaths since the pandemic began, one of the lowest death rates in the world.
Authorities had been reporting five or few deaths a day over the past month-figures inconsistent with long queues seen at funeral homes and body bags which were seen leaving crowded hospitals.
The WHO says the sub-variant has a higher clinical impact on older people and those with underlying conditions.
It said several other countries globally are currently experiencing the rapid spread of the variant and are seeing increased pressure on health services.
Meanwhile, Health Minster Joe Phaahla said they do not yet see the need to implement any restrictions domestically or on foreign travellers amid the global resurgence of Covid-19.
Source: Eyewitness News, CNBC, Reuters, image from Twitter: @dwnews