China on Saturday reported nearly 60,000 deaths in people who had COVID-19 since early December following complaints the government was failing to release data about the status of the pandemic.
The death toll included 5,503 deaths due to respiratory failure caused by the coronavirus and 54,435 fatalities from other ailments combined with COVID-19. The National Health Commission said those deaths occurred in hospitals, which left open the possibility more people also might have died at home.
The report would more than double China’s official COVID-19 death toll to 10,775. The official toll stood at 5,272 on Jan. 8.
The Chinese government stopped reporting data on COVID-19 infections and deaths in early December after abruptly lifting anti-virus controls. The World Health Organization and other governments appealed to Beijing for more information amid a surge in infections.
Wen Daxiang, a Shanghai Health Commission official, said China would strengthen health monitoring and management of the high-risk population.
He added that China would bolster the supply of drugs and medical equipment, and beef up training of grassroots medical workers to combat COVID in rural regions.
Meanwhile, people in China are resuming travel ahead of the Lunar New Year, despite worries about infections.
The rapid business recovery is challenging airlines' ability to ensure safety, and great attention to pandemic-related risks is needed, said Song Zhiyong, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
The industry needs to "fully understand the special nature, and complexity of the Spring Festival migration in 2023", Song said in a statement on Friday.
Since the Jan. 7 start of the annual migration, as Chinese return to their hometowns in preparation for the holiday set to begin on Jan. 21, flight passenger numbers stand at 63% of the 2019 figure before the pandemic, the aviation regulator said.
China re-opened its borders on Jan. 8 after having abruptly abandoned in December a strict anti-virus regime of frequent testing, travel curbs and mass lockdowns that had fueled historic nationwide protests in late November.
