1.9 million deaths in two months tied to China’s Covid-19 exit: ‘Devastating’By Carla Mascarenhas, News.com.au
August 28, 2023
New research has found China’s decision to end its strict Covid zero strategy policy had a truly devastating outcome, with a new report claiming there have been 1.9 million excess deaths in just two months.
The figure applies only to adults over the age of 30 who died between December 2022 and January 2023, according to the paper published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
The Chinese government had previously disclosed about 60,000 COVID-related deaths in health facilities from early December to the middle of January.
The researchers estimate is consistent with forecasts from other academic researchers and health groups.
“Despite being the first place to be hit by COVID-19, China was able to quickly suppress the disease through stringent measures over an extended period,” said Dr Joseph Unger, the senior author of the paper and a biostatistician and health services researcher at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Centre in Seattle.
“Because the Chinese population had been largely shielded from infection with limited natural immunity and was not fully or well vaccinated, the sudden introduction of widespread COVID-19 infection had a devastating impact.”
In the US, which reported the highest number of COVID deaths during the pandemic, a cumulative 1.1 million adults aged 45 and older died from the virus, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Estimating the number of deaths from COVID has been difficult over the world for a range of reasons including the challenges of diagnosing infections early on in the outbreak and tracking everyone affected during the massive waves that followed.
Experts agree the figures are almost certainly an underestimate in every nation and that it may take years to calculate the true toll.
* * *
Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/08/28/1-9-million-deaths-in-two-months-tied-to-chinas-covid-19-exit/
