China announced on Saturday that it has seen at least 60,000 deaths linked to the COVID-19 pandemic since the country lifted health restrictions a month ago.
“A total of 59,938 (deaths) were recorded between December 8, 2022 and January 12, 2023,” health authority official Jiao Yahui told reporters.
This report does not take into account deaths registered outside hospitals and other medical facilities.
Among these deaths, 5,503 were directly caused by respiratory failure related to Covid-19, the official added.
After three years of some of the world’s most draconian restrictions, China suddenly lifted most of its coronavirus health measures in early December.
Since then, the number of patients has increased rapidly. Hospitals have found themselves overwhelmed with elderly patients – and crematoria overwhelmed by the influx of bodies.
Beijing revised its methodology for calculating Covid deaths in December. Only people who died directly from respiratory failure related to the coronavirus are now included in the statistics.
This controversial change in methodology means that a large number of deaths are no longer listed as a result of the virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) last week criticized this new definition of death from Covid, considering it “too narrow”.
Beijing has slammed the criticism and called on the WHO to adopt an “impartial” stance on Covid. On Wednesday, Chinese health authorities said it was “not necessary” to dwell on the exact number of Covid-related deaths.
