China on Saturday said nearly 60,000 people with COVID-19 have died in hospitals since the country abandoned its COVID-free policy last month, a huge increase from previously reported figures. following global criticism of the country’s coronavirus data.
In early December, Beijing abruptly lifted its strict three-year anti-virus regime that included routine testing, travel restrictions, and mass lockdowns following widespread protests in late November. and cases have increased since then across the nation of 1.4 billion people.
A health official said Saturday that COVID fever and emergency hospitalizations have peaked and the number of hospitalized patients is continuing to decline.
Between December 8 and January 12, the total number of COVID-related deaths in Chinese hospitals was 59,938, said Jiao Yahui, director of the Health Administration Department under the National Health Commission. (NHC), said in a press conference.
Of those deaths, 5,503 were due to respiratory failure due to COVID and the rest were due to a combination of COVID and other illnesses, she said.
While international health experts have predicted at least 1 million COVID-related deaths this year, China has previously reported just over 5,000 deaths since the pandemic began, one of lowest mortality rate in the world.
Authorities have reported fewer than five deaths a day over the past month – numbers that don’t match the long queues at funeral homes and the body bags seen leaving hospitals crowded hospital.
The World Health Organization said this week that China was underreporting COVID deaths, although it is now providing more information about the outbreak of the disease.
The UN agency was not immediately available for comment on Saturday.
China, which last reported daily COVID mortality figures on Monday, has repeatedly defended the veracity of its data on the disease.
On Saturday, Jiao said China divides COVID-related deaths into those due to respiratory failure due to coronavirus infection and those with underlying illness associated with coronavirus infection.
“The standard is basically in line with the standard adopted by the World Health Organization and other major countries,” she said.
Last month, a Chinese medical expert at a government press conference said only deaths from pneumonia and respiratory failure after COVID-19 infection are considered COVID deaths. Heart attacks or cardiovascular diseases that cause the death of an infected person will not be classified there.
Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, said the 10-fold increase in deaths announced Saturday shows the reversal of China’s COVID policy. “actually related” to a sharp increase in severe illness and deaths, especially among older people.
However, he said, it is still unclear whether the new data accurately reflects actual deaths because doctors are discouraged from reporting COVID-related deaths and the numbers only including hospital deaths.
“For example, in rural areas, many elderly people die at home but are not tested for Covid because they do not have access to test kits or they do not want to be tested,” he said.
‘Downtrend’
Jiao, a Chinese health official, said the number of patients requiring urgent treatment is decreasing, and the proportion of patients at fever clinics who test positive for COVID-19 is also decreasing. She added that the number of severe cases has also peaked, although still at a high level, and patients are mostly elderly.
Officials said China will increase the supply of medicines and medical equipment in rural areas, and strengthen the training of frontline medical workers in those areas.
“The number of visitors to fever clinics in general is on a downward trend after peaking, both in the city and in the countryside,” Jiao said.
A sharp increase in travel ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, when hundreds of millions of people return home from cities to small towns and the countryside, has raised fears it will increase the number of cases. sick during the holiday that begins on January 21.
This week, the WHO warned about the risks stemming from holiday travel. China reopened its borders on January 8.
Despite concerns about contagion, air travel in China has recovered to 63 percent from 2019 levels since the annual tourist season began on January 7, the regulator said. industry said Friday.
The transport department has predicted passenger traffic will increase by 99.5% for the year during the migration festival period, which runs through February 15, or recover to 70.3% from the level of the previous year. 2019.
In China’s gambling hub Macau, 46,000 daily domestic tourists on Friday were the highest number since the pandemic began, the majority coming from the mainland, the city government said. It expects a spring festival bursting in tourism.
