Follow Us on Google News
BEIJING: China’s health authorities on Saturday reported almost 60,000 Covid-related deaths in just over a month, the first major death toll released by the government since the loosening of its virus restrictions in early December.
There was a total of 59,938 Covid-related deaths between December 8, 2022, and January 12 this year, Jiao Yahui, head of the Bureau of Medical Administration under the National Health Commission, told a press conference.
The average age of those who died was 80.3 years and more than 90% of them had other diseases including cardiovascular diseases, advanced tumors and metabolic diseases, the commission said. The number of deaths of the elderly is relatively high because of increased incidence of respiratory diseases and aggravation of cardiovascular diseases in the winters among older people, said Jiao Yahui, an official at the commission. That, coupled with Covid infections, aggravated the situation, Jiao said.
It has become increasingly difficult to gauge the impact of Covid in China as authorities stopped the frequent release of data and recently adopted a narrower definition of a Covid fatality — only those who die from respiratory failure caused by the virus are counted.
Reports of surging deaths across a swathe of the country on social media suggest the actual number of those who died from the infection may be much higher than the official count.
