China changes criteria for recording Covid-19 deaths amid rising cases

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• Dec 21, 2022 | Dhupali Das

Earlier, people who died from disease while infected with the virus were formerly included in the Covid-19 death statistics...

Digital Desk: China announced on Wednesday that no Covid-19 deaths had been reported in the country the previous day after changing the criteria for registering such deaths. Only people who died directly from respiratory failure caused by the virus will be counted as COVID-19 deaths under the new criteria. Earlier, people who died from disease while infected with the virus were formerly included in the Covid-19 death statistics. This change has resulted in a significant decrease in the number of Covid-19 deaths reported in China. However, hospitals, pharmacies, and crematoriums in the country are still under strain as a result of the government's easing of lockdowns and mass testing last month. Despite these problems, the government argues that they are not avoiding the dangers of Covid-19 and are merely attempting to examine the virus's threats in a scientific manner.

Underlying diseases and Covid

According to Wang Guiqiang of Peking University First Hospital, the leading cause of mortality for patients infected with the Omicron version of the virus is generally underlying conditions, particularly among the elderly.

He said, "Old people have other underlying conditions, only a very small number die directly of respiratory failure caused by infection with Covid." Crematorium workers around the country have experienced difficulty keeping up with an increase in deaths. Beijing conceded last week that tracking the scope of the outbreak has become "difficult" because obligatory mass testing has halted.

Global threat of Covid-19

Despite the decline in Covid-19 deaths that have been reported, the US State Department has expressed concern about the spike in infections in China and the possibility that the virus could evolve and pose a risk to individuals all over the world.

State Department spokesman Ned Price stated, "We know that any time the virus is spreading, that it is in the wild, it has the potential to mutate and to pose a threat to people everywhere." He added that the virus's effect is of concern to the rest of the globe due to China's big GDP and economy. On Wednesday, China reported 3,049 new domestic covid-19 cases but no new deaths. There have been a total of 5,241 Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.