Chinese health authorities reported today that nearly 60,000 deaths are to be considered related to the wave of Covid-19 that has been plaguing the country since last month, the most serious since the Wuhan crisis in January 2020: this is the first large death toll released by the Beijing government from the easing of restrictions of the “zero tolerance” policy decided in early December.
China, the number of deaths from Covid-19 does not add up: satellite images show the queues at the crematoria
by our correspondent Gianluca Modolo
In detail, the dead are 59,938 between 8 December 2022 and 12 January 2023, he said at the press conference Jiao Yahuihead of the Medical Administration Office of the National Health Commission: 5,503 deaths are due to respiratory failure triggered by the infection, while another 54,435 are the cases of deaths related to Covid, but of people with chronic pathologies such as cancer or cardiovascular disease.
The official count decided by China, however, includes only the deaths that are a direct consequence of the coronavirus, without the presence of other types of pathologies, according to the restrictive definition announced in recent weeks by the local authorities, at the basis of the criticisms of the World Organization of healthcare. The median age of those who died was 80.3, and 90 percent were aged 65 or over, according to Chinese media.
Covid, Chinese vaccination tourism in Hong Kong: boom in requests for “Western” serums
by our correspondent Gianluca Modolo
Beijing has ended up in the crosshairs of the international community for the lack of transparency on the latest outbreak which has led to reports of crowded hospitals and funeral homes across the country and at the limits of operation. Many countries have also imposed restrictions on travelers from China asking Beijing to share more data with the rest of the world. However, China’s foreign ministry said the United States – which has been lauded by WHO for the information it has provided so far – also faces pressure to share its data on the spread of the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant, believed to be highly contagious, in a timely manner.