China Covid: Offcials report five deaths under new counting method

• The number only accounts for fatal respiratory conditions like pneumonia.
• The State Council held a news conference on Tuesday to try to allay the worries.
• China claims that more than 90% of its people have received all recommended vaccinations.

In light of uncertainty regarding the true scope of the disease’s effects, China has described how it counts Covid-19 deaths.

According to the statement, the number only accounts for fatal respiratory conditions like pneumonia.

Only five Covid deaths were reported officially on Tuesday, two on Monday, and none in the two weeks prior.

The technique of counting contravenes World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, and as a result, the number of deaths is much lower than in many other nations.

According to the WHO, countries utilise various testing and reporting procedures for Covid-19 fatalities, making cross-national comparisons challenging.

This explains why excess mortality from Covid-19 is a term used by several nations to describe the number of deaths that occurred relative to what would be predicted if the pandemic hadn’t occurred.

These figures also account for deaths that weren’t directly related to Covid but were brought on by its side effects, such as preventing individuals from getting the care they need in hospitals.

China, in contrast, has stringent requirements for confirming Covid-19 instances, which include signs of the virus’s lung damage in patients. This has to be scanned to be verified.

However, since the country’s strictest restrictions were lifted earlier this month, there has been an increase in cases.

According to official statistics, there aren’t many deaths and new cases each day. This has given rise to worries that the figures are understated as a result of a recent drop in Covid testing.

The State Council held a news conference on Tuesday to try to allay the worries.

Prof. Wang Gui-qiang, an expert in infectious diseases, made it clear that only pneumonia and respiratory failure brought on by the coronavirus were counted as Covid deaths.

The official tally does not include deaths brought on by underlying illnesses, according to the state-run China News Service.

Strict lockdowns are credited with keeping China’s official death toll, which has remained at slightly over 5,200 since the outbreak began, so low.

Compared to 3,000 per million in the US and 2,400 per million in the UK, this equates to only three Covid fatalities per million in China.

Utilizing vaccines, and particularly delivering them to the most susceptible populations, has been difficult in China.

China claims that more than 90% of its people have received all recommended vaccinations. However, fewer than 50% of adults 80 and older have had all three vaccination doses. Severe Covid symptoms are more common in older adults.

A lot of the rest of the world uses mRNA vaccinations, but China has created and produced its own vaccines that have been proved to be less efficient at preventing major Covid sickness and death than those vaccines.

Source: Chinese National Health Comission

Prof. Wang’s remarks come as hospitals in Beijing, as well as other major cities, are unable to keep up with the most recent Covid increase.

Also heavily damaged by the most recent wave were the postal and catering industries.

Shanghai, the largest city in China, has ordered the majority of its schools to offer online courses as the number of cases rises.

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