The World Health Organization is urging China to continue releasing COVID-19 data after Beijing on Saturday reported nearly 60,000 coronavirus-related deaths since Dec. 8.
Beijing’s announcement was the first official death toll since the ruling Communist Party abruptly dropped antivirus restrictions in December, despite a surge in infections that have been swamping hospitals. The WHO and other governments then asked for information, while the United States, South Korea and other countries imposed controls on Chinese visitors.
A woman and children wearing face masks walk past masked travelers while waiting in a departure hall to catch their trains at Beijing West Railway Station on Sunday, January 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Previously, the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported just 36 deaths from Dec. 7 and Jan. 8, according to the Washington Post.
In the revised death toll, Beijing said that between December 8 and January 12, 5,503 people died from respiratory failure caused by COVID-19, and there were 54,435 deaths from cancer, heart disease and other diseases combined with COVID -19
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The latest figures marked a significant increase from the previously dubious low total deaths of 10,775 since the disease was first detected in Wuhan in 2019.
The WHO said Beijing’s announcement on Saturday “allows for a better understanding of the epidemiological situation”.
Patients lie on beds and stretchers in a corridor at a hospital emergency room amid the coronavirus outbreak in Shanghai, China, January 4, 2023.
It said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke to Health Minister Ma Xiaowei by phone.
“WHO has asked that this type of detailed information continue to be shared with us and the public,” the agency said.
The National Health Commission said only deaths in hospitals would be counted, meaning anyone who died at home would not be counted. There was no indication of when or if updated numbers might be released.
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A health official said the “national emergency peak has been passed” based on an 83% drop in the daily number of people going to fever clinics from a Dec. 23 peak.
China has only counted deaths from pneumonia or respiratory failure in its official tally, excluding many deaths that could be attributed to the virus in other countries.
Meanwhile, bullet train service between mainland China and Hong Kong has resumed amid restrictions allowing 5,000 passengers from each side to make the journey daily and requiring a negative virus test within the past 48 hours.
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Both sides are reopening travel links that have been suspended as part of Beijing’s “zero-COVID” strategy aimed at keeping the virus out of China. Hong Kong imposed different but similarly strict restrictions that blocked most international travel.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Bradford Betz is a red-hot reporter at Fox News Digital, covering crime, politics and more.