China reported its first Covid related deaths in weeks as rising cases continue to put strain following the relaxation of pandemic-related curbs.
On Monday, China recorded two Covid deaths, a first since December 3, the National Health Commission said, reports Reuters news agency.
However, doubts were raised on whether the official toll truly reflects the country’s battle with a spurt in cases, which was largely in check due to zero-Covid measures.
Following the reports of Covid related deaths, a hashtag on the same was seen trending on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform on Monday.
“What is the point of incomplete statistics?” asked one user. “Isn’t this cheating the public?” wrote another.
China has officially acknowledged that only 5,237 Covid-related deaths occurred during the pandemic, including the latest toll figures, which is a tiny fraction considering its 1.4 billion population.
The Beijing government has largely praised its tough anti-virus measures for the low number of cases, but it was forcefully withdrawn last month after a string of protests complaining lack of movement across cities and difficulties in purchasing essential items.
But, experts fear that easing Covid measures could take the total number of deaths to more than a million.
Zhou Jiatong, head of the Center for Disease Control in southwestern Guangxi region, in a paper published last month by the Shanghai Journal of Preventive Medicine said that mainland China faces more than 2 million deaths if it eased on Covid curbs.
Similarly, a US-based organisation, the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, has projected that by April 1, 2023, China could register 322,000 deaths, when the Covid cases peak.
A few days ago, China’s National Health Commission said that it was ramping up vaccinations and building stocks of ventilators and essential drugs.
(With inputs from agencies)
