"We have stopped classifying COVID-19 deaths since the reopening in December," said a doctor at a large public hospital in Shanghai. "It is pointless to do that because almost everyone is positive."
People wait outside a funeral home in Shanghai, China amid the continuing wave of COVID-19 infections, January 5, 2023. REUTERS/ Staff
Six doctors at public hospitals across China told Reuters they had either received similar oral instructions discouraging them from attributing deaths to COVID-19 or were aware that their hospitals had such policies. China's Center for Disease Control and National Health Commission did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
One of them, a senior emergency room doctor in Shandong province, said doctors were issuing death certificates based on the actual cause of death, but "how to categorize" those deaths is up to the hospitals or local officials.Since the start of the pandemic, which first emerged three years ago in its central city of Wuhan, China has drawn heavy criticism for not being transparent over the virus—an accusationBefore Saturday, China was reporting five or fewer COVID-19 deaths per day.
Excess mortality is when the number of deaths for a given period is higher than it should be relative to historical averages.Seven people told Reuters that COVID-19 was not mentioned on the death certificates of their recently deceased relatives, although the relatives had either tested positive for the virus or displayed COVID-like symptoms.
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