China reports 60,000 Covid deaths in 1 month

Beijing, AP: There have been almost 60,000 COVID-related deaths in China since it began removing its zeroCOVID restrictions in early December, health authorities reported on Saturday.

Some 59,938 COVID-related deaths were recorded between December 8, 2022, and January 12, 2023, Jiao Yahui, Bureau of Medical Administration head, told reporters, adding that cases had peaked and were declining.

Nationwide, "the number of fever clinic visitors is generally in a declining trend after peaking, both in cities and rural areas," he said. The reported death toll only included those who died in the hospital, meaning more may have died at home.

'Official' death toll doubled

The announcement follows complaints that authorities had not been revealing data after large-scale protests led authorities to end the zero-COVID policy. The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on Beijing to be more forthcoming with figures about coronavirus infections and deaths amid the current surge.

China on Saturday reported nearly 60,000 deaths in people who had COVID-19 since early December following complaints the government was failing to release data about the status of the pandemic. The death toll included 5,503 deaths due to respiratory failure caused by COVID- 19 and 54,435 fatalities from other ailments combined with COVID-19.

The National Health Commission said those deaths occurred in hospitals, which left open the possibility more people also might have died at home. The report would more than double China’s official COVID-19 death toll to 10,775. The official toll stood at 5,272 on Jan. 8.

The Chinese government stopped reporting data on COVID-19 infections and deaths in early December after abruptly lifting anti-virus controls. The World Health Organization and other governments appealed to Beijing for more information amid a surge in infections.