The World Health Organization is urging China to continue publishing data on COVID-19 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 lifted anti-virus restrictions in December despite a surge in infections that overwhelmed hospitals. This prompted the WHO and other governments to request 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 passengers waiting in the departure hall to catch their trains at Beijing West Railway Station, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
China’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had previously reported only 36 deaths between Dec. 7 and Jan. 8, according to the Washington Post.
In the revised death toll, Beijing said 5,503 people died of respiratory failure caused by COVID-19, and there were 54,435 deaths from cancer, heart disease and other diseases combined with COVID-19 between December 8 and January 12 .
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The latest figures mark a significant increase from the previously questionably low death toll 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 in the emergency department of a hospital, amid the coronavirus outbreak in Shanghai, China, 4 January 2023.
It said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke by phone with Health Minister Ma Xiaowei.
“WHO has requested that this kind of detailed information continues to be shared with us and the public,” the agency said.
The National Health Commission said only deaths in hospitals were counted, meaning anyone who died at home would not be included. It gave no indication of when or if it might release updated numbers.
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A health official said “the national emergency peak has passed” based on an 83% drop in the daily number of people attending fever clinics since the peak on 23 December.
China has only counted deaths from pneumonia or respiratory failure in its official count, which excludes many deaths attributable to the virus in other countries.
Meanwhile, high-speed trains resumed Sunday between mainland China and Hong Kong under restrictions that allow 5,000 passengers from each country to travel daily and require a negative virus test in the previous 48 hours.
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The two countries are reopening travel links that were suspended under Beijing’s “zero COVID” strategy, which aimed to keep the virus out of China. Hong Kong imposed different but equally strict restrictions that blocked most international travel.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital reporter covering crime, politics and more.
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