BEIJING: China reported nearly 13,000 COVID-19-related deaths in hospitals between January 13 and 19, up from about 60,000 in the month or so before, as its experts say the country The wave of infections is already on the rise.
The updated death toll from China’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention comes amid doubts over the transparency of Beijing’s data and is extremely low by global standards.
Hospitals and funeral homes have been overwhelmed since China abandoned the world’s strictest system of COVID control and mass testing in early December, causing considerable economic damage and stress.
That sudden policy U-turn, which followed historic protests against the restrictions, spread COVID to a population of 1.4 billion that had been largely immune to the disease since it emerged in the city of Wuhan in late 2019.
The death toll reported by Chinese authorities does not include those who died at home, and some doctors have said they are discouraging putting COVID on death certificates.
China on Jan. 14 reported nearly 60,000 COVID-related deaths in hospitals between Dec. 8 and Jan. 12, far higher than the more than 5,000 deaths previously reported for the entire pandemic period.
Spending by funeral homes on items ranging from body bags to cremation ovens has increased in many provinces, documents show, one of several indicators of the deadly impact of COVID in China.
Some health experts expect more than one million people to die from the disease in China this year, with British health data firm Airfinity predicting 36,000 Covid deaths a day this week.
As millions of migrant workers return home for Lunar New Year celebrations, health experts are particularly concerned about people living in China’s vast rural areas, where medical facilities are poorer than in wealthier coastal areas. .
About 110 million railway passengers are estimated to have traveled from Jan. 7-21, the first 15 days of the 40-day Lunar New Year travel rush, up 28 percent year-on-year, according to the People’s Daily, a Communist Party official. The newspaper reported.
A total of 26.23 million trips were made by rail, highway, ships and planes on Lunar New Year, half of pre-pandemic levels, but up 50.8 percent from last year, official CC said. TV reported.
Wu Zunyu, chief epidemiologist of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Saturday that the mass movement of people during the holidays could spread the epidemic, increasing infections in some areas, but nearby A second COVID wave is unlikely in the period. on the Weibo social media platform.
Wu said a major resurgence of Covid in China in the next two to three months is unlikely because 80 percent of people have been infected.
