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Beijing: cremation In the Chinese Government data showed Zhejiang Province rose more than 70% year-on-year in the first quarter, an unexplained jump that occurred when the Covid outbreak swept the country.
About 171,000 cremations were recorded in Zhejiang Province — home to about 5% of China’s population — in the first three months of 2023, up from 99,000 in the same period last year, according to data on the provincial civil affairs bureau website.
China has not provided a full report on how many of its 1.4 billion people succumbed to the disease after it abruptly abandoned strict Covid restrictions in December last year, the World Health Organization said.
China said about 80,000 people died of Covid in hospitals across the country in the first two months after restrictions were lifted, a period when funeral parlors said they were flooded and there were long lines of hearsay in lines outside the crematoriums.
Some epidemiologists at the time estimated that as many as 2 million people could die from the virus in China.
Since then, data for the county, which did not say the cause of death, has been deleted. Fourth quarter data was also not available. China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs, which collects death statistics, did not release cremation data across the country covering that period.
The Zhejiang provincial government and the Ministry of Civil Affairs did not respond to requests for comment.
For the first three years since late 2019 when the epidemic broke out, China has kept the virus largely in check by adopting a strict “zero Covid” policy of harsh lockdowns and mass testing.
But as 2022 came to an end, the policy began to fail as the Omicron’s transmissible variant spread wildly and local governments struggled to raise the money and manpower to enforce the restrictions.
China abruptly changed course in December 2022 after protests in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities against the restrictions.
In January, a government scientist estimated that 80% of China’s 1.4 billion people had been infected.
About 171,000 cremations were recorded in Zhejiang Province — home to about 5% of China’s population — in the first three months of 2023, up from 99,000 in the same period last year, according to data on the provincial civil affairs bureau website.
China has not provided a full report on how many of its 1.4 billion people succumbed to the disease after it abruptly abandoned strict Covid restrictions in December last year, the World Health Organization said.
China said about 80,000 people died of Covid in hospitals across the country in the first two months after restrictions were lifted, a period when funeral parlors said they were flooded and there were long lines of hearsay in lines outside the crematoriums.
Some epidemiologists at the time estimated that as many as 2 million people could die from the virus in China.
Since then, data for the county, which did not say the cause of death, has been deleted. Fourth quarter data was also not available. China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs, which collects death statistics, did not release cremation data across the country covering that period.
The Zhejiang provincial government and the Ministry of Civil Affairs did not respond to requests for comment.
For the first three years since late 2019 when the epidemic broke out, China has kept the virus largely in check by adopting a strict “zero Covid” policy of harsh lockdowns and mass testing.
But as 2022 came to an end, the policy began to fail as the Omicron’s transmissible variant spread wildly and local governments struggled to raise the money and manpower to enforce the restrictions.
China abruptly changed course in December 2022 after protests in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities against the restrictions.
In January, a government scientist estimated that 80% of China’s 1.4 billion people had been infected.
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