The sudden increase in the death of public figures and celebrities across China has raised doubt over the country’s actual death toll due to coronavirus as reported by the authorities.
Actor Gong Jintang’s death is being mourned by many people on Chinese social media after he left for his heavenly abode on New Year’s Day at the age of 83. He was popular among the masses for playing the role of Father Kang in the Chinese sitcom Kang’s Family, which was first aired in the year 2000.
Gong’s death was reported by local media, however, the cause of death remained unclear.
“I’m so upset. (Gong) represents our memory for two generations,” said a user on Weibo, the microblogging platform in China.
Fans of Beijing opera were left shocked by 40-year-old Chu Lanlan’s sudden death last month, who had performed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Beijing Opera Arts College released an obituary which stated that Chu died due to an illness.
Her family expressed their grief over her death, however, they did not elaborate on the reason for her death, reported local media.
Last month, China removed its zero-Covid restrictions which lead to a sudden increase in Covid cases, as crematoriums and hospitals remained overwhelmed.
The daily data related to Covid was not published by China’s National Health Commission from late December. Earlier this week, China received criticism from the World Health Organisation for its “very narrow” definition of Covid deaths and the government was warned that official statistics did not reflect the outbreak’s true impact.
Since December, China has officially recorded 22 deaths from Covid after strictly narrowing the criteria for classifying such deaths, hence, failing to reflect the reality.
The sudden deaths of celebrities like Chu and Gong have forced many people to question the official Covid data of China.
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Using the hashtag “the first Covid wave did not cause a massive amount of deaths” on Weibo, which referred to a Chinese health official’s December quote, many internet users in China angrily questioned the death toll. By Friday afternoon, the hashtag had received more than 220 million views.
“Whether it is academicians or celebrities … or my relatives and friends in close contact, I really feel many people have died, but experts keep saying that was not the case,” one user said.
“I beg those adults who can’t see the ants on the ground to see how many people have passed away due to Covid. Just how many people who have great contributions to the country have died? And these were all celebrities,” another user commented.
Award-winning film director Wang Jingguang, who is famous for his movie Never Come Back, also died suddenly last month aged 54.
“Many public figures have died, with many of them passing at a young age,” stated Haishang Yilanghua, a Weibo influencer who has 364,000 followers, last month. “These deaths were made public, but there were still many other ordinary people who suffered and died that was not posted online,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
