China said nearly 60,000 people with COVID-19 had died in hospital since it abruptly dismantled its zero-COVID policy in early December, a big increase from previously reported figures that follows global criticism of the country's coronavirus data.
Between Dec. 8 and Jan. 12, the number of COVID-related deaths in Chinese hospitals totalled 59,938, with an average age of 80.3 among the deceased, Jiao Yahui, head of the Bureau of Medical Administration under the National Health Commission , told a media briefing on Saturday.
She said 5,503 of the fatalities were caused by respiratory failure due to COVID, while 54,435 resulted from a combination of COVID and other diseases.China last reported daily figures of COVID deaths on Monday. Authorities had been reporting five or fewer deaths a day over the past month - figures inconsistent with long queues seen at funeral homes and body bags seen leaving crowded hospitals.While international health experts have predicted at least 1 million COVID-related deaths this year, China had previously reported just over 5,000 since the pandemic began, one of the lowest death rates in the world.
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