60,000 Covid Deaths in a Month Reported in China

1 year ago 91

China’s Covid-19 related death toll is rising as the country racks up 60,000 in only one month. The World Health Organization (WHO) is now demanding the Chinese government be more forthcoming with their figures by releasing more official data.

The removal of its zero-Covid policy came after mass protests in December 2022 led to a reconsideration of its position. Its critics complained of the heavy-handiness of the measures that had been in place since the outbreak of the Covid in 2020.

The discontinuation of some of the policy’s key parts, such as holding people in quarantine camps, only occurred at the end of the month, with a rapidly increasing mortality rate ,soon nipping at China’s heels.

Protests over zero-Covid policy

Mass protests over China’s strict zero-Covid policy began in early December 2022 in the most of its major cities. It was the the largest anti-government movement since the Tiananmen Square massacre that took place in 1989.

The death of 10 people in a high-rise apartment building in Urumqi, a remote north western university town, was the spark that started the fire. Anger and frustration at the government’s continued lockdown merely added fuel to what had the strike in November 22nd at the Foxconn Factory in Zhengzhou had already set.

What started as dissent against lack of payment and unlivable work conditions quickly spread. There were even calls or President Xi Jinping to step down, Al Jazeera reporting on one activist named Ming Li.

In an interview with the news organization, she related how one protester yelled: “Xi Jinping!”. Along with others, Li apparently responded “Step down!”. The man kept shouting “Xi Jinping!”, she said, and the crowd “step down”.

People across several cities in China have had enough of the country's 'zero-COVID' policy, with protests mounting after the deaths of 10 people in an apartment fire pic.twitter.com/SuUe0Mky9c

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) November 30, 2022

60,0000 Covid-19 deaths in China in one month

There have been almost 60’000 Covid-19 related deaths in China in one month. 59’938 to be exact, all of which occurred between December 8, 2022 and January 12th, 2023. 90% of the victims were evidently over the age of 65 and most had underlying heart conditions.

According to recent news reports, the head of China’s Bureau of Medical Administration told reporters however that “The cases had peaked and were declining”.

“The number of fever clinic visitors is generally in a declining trend after peaking, both in cities and rural areas,” he was quoted as saying.

Yet the outside media is also stating that the only deaths reported were those in the hospital, not the ones at home. Given that a large section of China’s older population has yet to receive the vaccine, the Shanghai Health Commission has now promised to increase its efforts to reach that age group, as they represent the most high-risk individuals. However, travelers from China can still enter Greece.