60,000 covid related deaths recorded in China since early December

China has recorded nearly 60,000 coronavirus-related deaths since restrictions were lifted in early December, Persecondnews.com gathered Sunday.

The Chinese national health authority after  repeated requests from the World Health Organisation (WHO) for updates on its pandemic situation, released the numbers on Saturday.

In the data obtained by Per Second News, 5,503 deaths were recorded from respiratory failure caused by Covid-19 and 54,435 fatalities from other ailments combined with Covid-19 since December 8. The data showed that the deaths occurred in hospitals, which means that Covid-19 patients who died at home were not included in the numbers.

The data follows reports of  overcrowded hospitals and packed crematoriums in past weeks, even as the government released little data about the status of the outbreak.

The average age of people who died since December 8 was 80.3 years, and 90.1 per cent were over 65. More than 90 per cent of people who died had cancer, heart or lung diseases or kidney problems.

The US, South Korea, Japan, India and several other countries in Europe and the Middle East have imposed virus testing and other controls on people arriving from China. Beijing responded on Wednesday by suspending the issue of new visas to travellers from South Korea and Japan.

The World Health Organization said it was analysing the latest data but urged China to share more detailed information, including on sub-variants circulating throughout the nation.