Around 60k Covid-related deaths reported in past month in China

Nearly 60,000 covid-related deaths were reported by the Chinese Health Authorities on Saturday, with experts opining that the actual number is likely higher.

The average age of persons deceased due to covid, according to the Chinese authorities on Saturday, was 80.3 years old, with over 90% of the deaths being of people over 65 years of age.

Between December 8 of last year and January 12 of 2023, 59,938 covid-related deaths were recorded in the country, according to Jiao Yahui, head of the Bureau of Medical Administration under the National Health Commission. While 5,503 deaths were said to be due to respiratory failure directly due to the virus, 54,435 deaths were attributed to underlying diseases combined with Covid, Jiao added.

China had previously been criticized by experts for ‘underrepresenting’ the severity of the virus in the country as the authorities previously stated that the methodology for recording covid-related statistics would be revised to only include deaths that were caused by respiratory failure caused by the virus.

“Ask China for more rapid, regular, reliable data on hospitalisation and deaths, as well as… viral sequencing, ” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had previously stated.