The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week that nearly 13,000 people had died between January 13 and 19 from Covid-related illnesses, after an earlier announcement that nearly 60,000 people had died in hospitals from the virus within a month.
The Chinese authorities announced that daily deaths from Covid-19 have decreased by about 80 percent since the beginning of this month, in a sign that is difficult to verify independently of the decline in the number of injuries.
The world’s most populous country has been swept by a wave of widespread coronavirus infections since Beijing abruptly halted its zero-Covid policy and the stringent measures it entailed.
Beijing’s figures are believed to represent only a fraction of the truth, given China’s narrow definition of death from Covid infection, as well as official estimates of large population infections.
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week that nearly 13,000 people had died between January 13 and 19 from Covid-related illnesses, after an earlier announcement that nearly 60,000 people had died in hospitals from the virus within a month.
But recent government data and media reports indicate that the tide may be ebbing since it peaked in late December and early January, when hospitals and crematoriums were overwhelmed.
A statement from the Chinese Center for Diseases said on Wednesday that 896 people died of the virus in hospitals on Monday, a decrease of 79 percent compared to the numbers of January 4.
The center added that acute cases in hospitals also decreased to 36,000 by Monday, which represents a decrease of 72 percent compared to 128,000 cases on January 5.
The announcement came during the Lunar New Year celebration season in China, where authorities had previously warned that group travel and gatherings could lead to a new rise in infections.
As of Tuesday, some 664 million travel trips have been counted across the country for people who have returned to their villages and towns to celebrate, according to official figures from China Central Television.
