Chinese province deletes COVID-19 mortality data: Report
China's Zhejiang province has deleted mortality data that showed the impact of the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions last year on its death toll, reported the Financial Times. Last week, Zhejiang released data showing a 73% surge in the number of cremations in 2023 compared to the previous year. However, it took down the data on Monday as it sparked debate on Chinese social media.
Why does this story matter?
China has received flak, including from the World Health Organization (WHO), for allegedly hiding data related to COVID-19 and the origin of the virus. It relaxed COVID-19 curbs toward the end of 2022 after widespread protests against months of strict restrictions and an economic slowdown. Following this, a slew of reports, primarily from Western countries, showed an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases in China.
1.71 lakh cremations in first quarter of 2023
The data released by Zhejiang reportedly showed that around 1.71 lakh cremations were recorded in the first quarter of 2023. The province, one of the most populous in the country, reported around 91,000 and 99,000 deaths in the same period in 2021 and 2022, respectively. China has repeatedly claimed that its COVID-19 data is transparent and has slammed "distorted" media reports.
No publicly available data on China's COVID-19 deaths
The report added that China didn't report any COVID-19 deaths for two weeks in December 2022 despite bodies piling up at hospitals and crematoria. Apart from China's state planning agency's annual mortality and local-level cremation data, there is no publicly available statistic for gauging the number of COVID-19 deaths in the country. China claims that 90% of its population is vaccinated against COVID-19.
China engineered COVID-19 virus: Wuhan lab researcher
A researcher from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chao Shan, claimed last month that China deliberately engineered the SARS-CoV-2 as a bioweapon. Notably, the earliest cases of COVID-19 infection were reported in Wuhan's Huanan, which houses a wet market. The United States recently suspended funding to the institute for non-compliance and failure to provide documents about safety and security measures.
