Covid19 in China: The Chinese government has instructed doctors across the country to hide COVID-related deaths through changes in procedures as well as delays in updating death certificates, Voice Against Autocracy (VAA) reported. In addition, officials have stopped adding deaths at home, and not in hospitals, to the official count.
China revealed that the country had recorded close to 60,000 Covid-related deaths in early and mid-December 2022. This is a huge deal as China has said the death toll since the start of the pandemic in 2019 has remained at around 5,000. According to the VA, many felt the actual number was much higher and accused Beijing of underreporting. Even the World Health Organization (WHO) urged China for “more detailed” data as it expressed concern over the country’s downplaying of the severity of the viral outbreak.
By the end of December in China, Kovid infection started increasing and hospitals started filling up. Many patients did not get beds and were seen sleeping on the floor. Even funeral homes and cremation grounds were packed to the brim, and bodies were seen queuing up for days. The Chinese government, however, remained silent on the rising number of Covid patients. The government stopped issuing regular health bulletins, leading to confusion over the Covid situation.
However, a social media post by Wu Zunyao, a renowned Chinese scientist and government official, revealed that over 80 percent of China’s population was Covid-infected. According to the VAA, the Chinese government has issued notices and circulars instructing doctors not to mention Covid as the cause of death. “On the death certificate, we fill in one main cause of death and two to three sub-causes of death, so we basically exclude Covid,” said a doctor at a Shanghai-based hospital.
Another doctor from Liaoning province, Liu Chen (pseudonym), said government regulations prevent them from counting the deaths of Covid patients as Covid deaths due to exacerbation of underlying diseases. “Stanhat is the standard we all have to follow. So, from top to bottom, no one knows the exact death rate of Covid,” he said, as quoted by VAA. According to complaints received from people, post-Covid deaths in China are being labeled as “heart disease”, “pneumonia” or “underlying illness”.
According to Song Guo-cheng, a researcher at National Chengchi University, the latest death toll announced by Beijing is still suspect. Song said, “Information from various sources and online reports contradicts the Covid data reported by the Chinese Communist Party. This underlines that the CCP is still playing with the figures, thereby misrepresenting the true scale of the outbreak.” being covered.”
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