China reports nearly 60,000 COVID-related deaths in past month after data criticism – National

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China on Saturday reported nearly 60,000 deaths of people with COVID-19 since early December following complaints that it was not disclosing data, and said the “emergency peak” of its latest surge appears has been.

The toll included 5,503 deaths from respiratory failure caused by COVID-19 and 54,435 deaths from other conditions combined with COVID-19 since Dec. 8, the National Health Commission said. He said these “COVID-related deaths” occurred in hospitals, leaving open the possibility that more people also died at home.

The report would more than double China’s official COVID-19 death toll to 10,775 since the disease was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019. China only counted deaths due to pneumonia or respiratory failure in its official COVID-19 toll, a narrow definition that excludes many deaths that would be attributed to COVID-19 in other places.

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China stopped reporting data on COVID-19 deaths and infections after abruptly lifting virus controls in early December despite a spike in infections that began in October and filled hospitals with feverish, wheezy patients.

The World Health Organization and other governments have appealed for information after reports from city and provincial governments suggest hundreds of millions of people in China may have contracted the virus.

The peak of the latest wave of infections appears to have passed due to fewer patients visiting fever clinics, National Health Commission official Jiao Yahui said.

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The daily number of people visiting these clinics peaked at 2.9 million on December 23 and fell 83% to 477,000 on Thursday, according to Jiao.

“These data show that the national emergency peak has passed,” Jiao told a news conference.

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The United States, South Korea and other governments have imposed virus testing and other checks on people arriving from China. Beijing retaliated on Wednesday by suspending the issuance of new visas to travelers from South Korea and Japan.

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China kept its infection rate and deaths lower than the United States and some other countries at the height of the pandemic with a “zero-COVID” strategy that aimed to isolate every case. It has shut down access to some cities, kept millions at home and sparked angry protests.

The average age of those who have died since Dec. 8 is 80.3 and 90.1% are 65 or older, according to the Health Commission. He said more than 90% of those who died had cancer, heart or lung disease or kidney problems.

“The number of elderly patients dying from disease is relatively large, suggesting that we should pay more attention to elderly patients and do our best to save their lives,” Jiao said.

This month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said agency officials had met with Chinese officials to stress the importance of sharing more details about COVID-19 issues, including hospitalization rates and genetic sequences.

© 2023 The Associated Press

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