(Beijing) Chinese data on the number of deaths from COVID-19 has always been transparent, Chinese health authorities said Thursday evening, despite a discrepancy with the reality of the statistics so far given by Beijing.
“China has always published its data on COVID-19 deaths and severe cases in a spirit of openness and transparency,” senior National Health Commission (NHC) official Jiao Yahui said Thursday evening. which serves as the Ministry of Health. His remarks are reported by the state agency New China.
The country is going through a wave of contamination of an unprecedented scale since the abrupt abandonment, at the beginning of the month, of its so-called “zero COVID-19” policy.
Latest easing to date: the end of mandatory quarantines on January 8 on arrival in Chinese territory.
A disease control body on Friday identified 5,500 new positive cases in China and only one death. But since the end of mass testing and the new, narrower definition of a death attributed to COVID-19, these statistics appear out of step with reality.
According to experts at the Airfinity Center, the death toll in China could currently stand at 9,000 per day and reach 1.7 million by the end of April 2023.
Jiao Yahui said only patients who died of respiratory failure caused by the virus after testing positive on a PCR test were considered COVID-19 victims.
In other countries, patients who die within 28 days of testing positive are counted as COVID-19 deaths.
“China has always been committed, from beginning to end, to abiding by scientific criteria for judging deaths from COVID-19, which are in line with international criteria,” said Mr.me Jiao.
In the continuity of the lowering of restrictions, China will declassify COVID-19 on January 8 as a category B infectious disease, against A previously, which will allow it to further relax health rules.
Liang Wannian, head of anti-COVID-19 policy at the NHC, said at a press conference that the decision was appropriate, scientifically and legally based, China News reported.
This change does not mean that China opens the door wide to the virus, but that it devotes more resources to the most important positions such as epidemic control and the treatment of infected people, explained Liang Wannian.