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China has reported no new Covid deaths despite images of overflowing hospitals and hearses lining up outside crematoriums.
Infections are ripping across the country after its hardline zero-Covid policy was eased but despite this China said that not a single person had died of Covid on Tuesday.
China had recorded a total of seven deaths – all in Beijing – since the decision to lift the zero-Covid policy, but removed one death from its official tally Wednesday.
This is because China is only counting people who tested positive for Covid and died of respiratory failure as official deaths, according to the national health commission.
People dying of another disease or reason – even if it was brought on by Covid – won’t be considered a virus death.
This is different from how other countries have classified coronavirus deaths. Even if the virus may not be the ultimate cause of death, being infected can aggravate other conditions leading to death.
Covid, for instance, can cause blood clots that may bring on a heart attack. As such, deaths of people infected with Covid are generally included in statistics.
Hospitals struggling and crematoriums overwhelmed
The UK does determine whether a death was due to Covid, or due to underlying causes brought on by the virus, though both figures are included in the final figures. It also provides numbers for those who died within 28 days of a positive test result.
The accounting change means that China’s figures won’t be comparable to other countries. On the whole, China’s death tally is much lower at over 5,000 since the pandemic erupted.
Hospitals are struggling, pharmacy shelves have been stripped bare and many crematoriums are overwhelmed in the wake of the Chinese government’s sudden decision to lift years of lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing following an outbreak in protests.
For the government, the recent change is likely a move to help keep public panic at bay.
Propaganda pivot
Beijing has spent years informing the public that tight restrictions were necessary, and signalled China’s superiority to other Western nations whose lack of curbs were leading to mass deaths.
The government trumpeted that its zero-Covid policy was saving lives, in contrast to Western nations who were “letting its people die”.
As such, authorities now have to pivot the propaganda to explain why it’s necessary to change the rules, and to educate the public that the virus does not always spark death and that there are many milder infections that people can recover from on their own at home.
Official statistics revealed to the public thus must also toe the line.
