World

China revises coronavirus death toll, rejects cover-up accusations

The revised death toll included those who died at home in the early days of the outbreak, as well as deaths that had not been properly reported by hospitals or registered on death certificates, the officials in Wuhan said in a statement. — Courtesy photo

BEIJING — China revised its official death count from the coronavirus, adding some 1,290 fatalities from the city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus originated last year. The number of confirmed infections in the city was also revised upward to 50,333, an increase of 325. The revised death toll included those who died at home in the early days of the outbreak, as well as deaths that had not been properly reported by hospitals or registered on death certificates, the officials in Wuhan said in a statement. The statistical verification followed efforts by authorities to “ensure that information on the city's Covid-19 epidemic is open, transparent and the data (is) accurate, the statement added. It added that health systems were initially overwhelmed and cases were mistakenly reported — in some instances counted more than once and in others missed entirely. China’s move comes amid growing international concern that deaths in China have been under-reported. The concern has been shared by US President Donald Trump. The country has repeatedly revised its data throughout the crisis, but the government refuted claims that it concealed the scale of the outbreak. China foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Friday that data revision is a common practice around the world and rejected allegations that the country has intentionally downplayed the magnitude of its outbreak. Following the revision by Wuhan, China’s National Health Commission said on Friday that the death toll in mainland China has been revised from 3,342 to 4,632. Meanwhile, total confirmed cases have been revised from 82,367 to 82,692, the NHC added. — Agencies