China Boosts Virus Death Tally, Rejects Accusations of Cover Up

(Bloomberg) -- China revised its official death count from the coronavirus, adding some 1,290 fatalities from the city of Wuhan, but officials rejected accusations that it has covered up the true scale of the epidemic.

The addition boosts the nationwide death toll by nearly 40% to 4,632, the National Health Commission said on Friday, of which the majority come from Hubei province where Wuhan is located. Total confirmed infections rose to 82,692 after Wuhan added 325 cases in the revision, which was reported by state news agency Xinhua earlier.

China’s move comes amid speculation about the accuracy of its virus data, which has been questioned by U.S. 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 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.

“There has never been any cover up and we do not allow cover ups,” Zhao said in a briefing in Beijing on Friday, “China, in response to Covid-19, has done nothing that should be criticized.”

Overwhelmed Doctors

The additional deaths were all found in Wuhan, where the virus first emerged back in December. They include cases where people died at home without seeing a doctor or being tested for the virus, which meant the cases were not recorded in data at the time, according to the Xinhua report, citing officials from Wuhan’s epidemic control unit.

Other factors behind the revisions included late and incomplete reporting due to medical workers, and institutions being overwhelmed treating patients during the epidemic. During the crisis, designated hospitals to treat patients were also expanded to institutions at the municipal and district level, including private hospitals, and not all were connected to and feeding timely information to the central epidemic network, Xinhua said.

New York City saw a similar upward revision in its death toll a few days ago, with more than 3,700 people added who died at home before being tested. Still, China’s repeated revisions -- including a one-day addition of nearly 15,000 virus cases diagnosed through a different clinical method in February -- have raised questions.

American intelligence officials are said to have concluded that China concealed the extent of its outbreak and under-reported the number of cases and deaths. Last month, pictures of thousands of ash urns being ferried to funeral homes in Wuhan circulated on Chinese social media platforms, fueling speculation that the real number of deaths in the city was higher than officially acknowledged.

Comparatively Low

While Friday’s change marks a substantial surge, China’s new official death toll is still low compared to the U.S., where reported deaths have climbed past 30,000. In Italy and Spain, deaths number around 20,000 in each country.

China’s revisions come after an investigation group was formed in late March to look into epidemic data and found discrepancies, according to the Xinhua report.

The latest adjustment of the death toll “can stand the test of history,” Zhao said in the briefing.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

With assistance from Bloomberg