This figure only refers to deaths recorded in medical facilities. (agent)
Beijing:
Chinese health officials on Saturday reported nearly 60,000 Covid-related deaths in just over a month, the first major death count released since the government loosened its virus restrictions in early December.
China recorded 59,938 Covid-related deaths between December 8, 2022, and January 12 this year, Xiao Yahui, head of the Medical Administration Bureau under the National Health Commission, told a news conference.
The figure only refers to deaths recorded in medical facilities, with the total number likely to be higher.
This includes 5,503 deaths due to respiratory failure directly caused by the virus, and 54,435 deaths due to underlying diseases combined with Covid, Xiao said.
Since abandoning its zero-covid policy in early December, China has been accused of downplaying the number of deaths from the virus.
Health officials stressed on Wednesday that it was “not necessary” to dwell on the exact number.
Beijing previously revised its methodology for classifying Covid deaths, saying it would only count those who die of respiratory failure specifically caused by the virus.
But it was criticized by the World Health Organisation, which said the new definition was “too narrow”.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said the organization was continuing to collect “more rapid, regular, reliable data about hospitalizations and deaths from China, as well as … viral sequencing”.
On Saturday, Chinese health officials said the average age of those who died was 80.3 years, with more than 90 percent of those over the age of 65.
Most were suffering from underlying conditions, he said. Millions of people over the age of 60 in China have not been vaccinated.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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