Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 14
In the first evidence of massive mortality since it ended the harsh zero Covid policy, China on Saturday reported 59,938 Covid-related deaths in hospitals across the country over the past 36 days.
The country’s National Health Commission, as reported by official Chinese media, said 59,938 people had died between December 8, 2022, and January 12, 2023.
Director of the commission’s medical affairs wing Jiao Yahui said hospitals recorded 5,503 deaths from respiratory failure triggered by Covid and 54,435 deaths on account of underlying conditions such as cancer or cardiovascular diseases, combined with Covid.
The Chinese media reported that the average age of those who died was 80.3, and 90 per cent of those who died were aged 65 or over.
China’s cumulative Covid-related deaths now stand at 65,210.
China, which started abandoning the harshest of its zero Covid policy measures from early December, has decided not to report Covid data daily and instead provide a cumulative report.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has repeatedly urged China to share more information.
Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said: “WHO still believes that deaths are heavily underreported from China. This is in relation to the definitions that are used, but also to the need for doctors and those reporting in the public health system to be encouraged to report these cases and not discouraged.”
The Covid situation in India, meanwhile, remains under control with no surge reported after the Chinese case explosion last December.
Government sources have, however, said January was a critical month, with surveillance still in high gear to detect any potential mutations that can drive a case surge.
So far, India has been reporting on an average 170 to 180 new cases a day.
India recorded 179 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours, with active cases falling to 2,227, indicating a stable graph. The daily positivity in India was 0.10 per cent today. The weekly positivity rate was also 0.10 per cent.
