China Sets Strict Definition for Death by COVID-19

A coffin is loaded from a hearse into a storage container at the Dongjiao crematorium and funeral home, one of several in the city that handles COVID-19 cases in Beijing, China on Dec. 18, 2022. Getty Images

The Chinese National Health Commission has set the standards for death by COVID-19, and analysts believe they could cut down the true counts of death by COVID-19 because they are so strict.

At a press conference on Dec. 20, Wang Guiqiang, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Peking University First Hospital, indicated that only “respiratory failure caused by COVID” will be counted as a COVID-19 death.

Wang claimed that the main cause of death from COVID-19 infection was the underlying chronic illnesses of the elderly; the direct cause of death by respiratory failure from COVID-19 infection is few.

Therefore, deaths caused by illnesses such as “cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, myocardial infarction and so on are not classified as COVID deaths,” Wang said.

He stressed that “doctoral consultation and discussion” should finalize the real cause of each death.

‘Avoid Repercussions’

Current affairs commentator Hui Huyu said that the strict definition would reduce the deaths officially attributed to COVID-19. “It’s to avoid the repercussions and condemnation when the many COVID deaths are revealed,” he said.

Commentator Li Linyi believed the death toll has been much higher than what’s been made public. “Many died at home. There’s no chance to get a medical consultation on the cause of death,” he said.

“There were families not allowed to fill in the cause of death as COVID,” Li said.

A netizen recently said on the Chinese social media WeChat that morgues and crematoria might not accept the body if the cause of death is COVID.

“[You] have to choose between COVID and pneumonia. … It’s to force you to choose pneumonia so that it’s not counted toward the COVID death numbers. … [Beijing wants] to win at the cost of morality and law, now even humanity can be dispensed with,” the post read.

The surge in infections in China took off before the Chinese regime’s decision to ease its strict zero-COVID policy, observers have said

According to World Health Organization emergencies director Mike Ryan, the virus was spreading “intensively” in the nation long before the lifting of restrictions, Reuters reported.

A man holds a wreath of flowers at a crematorium in Beijing on Dec. 22, 2022. STF/AFP via Getty Images

Experience in Beijing

Ms. Wang (pseudonym), a well-known human rights activist in Beijing, explained the chaotic situation in the capital city to the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times on Dec. 21.

Wang said that Beijing had experienced a shortage of medicines, and some hospitals were closed because doctors were all infected.

Whether or not the COVID policy is eased, she said, “You really don’t see any effective governance.”

It is a fantasy in China to want a serving government, according to Wang. “Apart from oppressing and exploiting the people, the regime really has no other functions,” she said.

“I had a high fever of 38.8 to 40 degrees (101.8 F to 104 F), and I couldn’t get up for two days. It is conceivable how bad it will be for the many elderly,” she said.

Li Linyi analyzed that the purpose of the regime’s concealing the death toll by COVID is to prove the communist system’s superiority and advantage, a lie that the regime has been upholding.

“It’s to maintain the legitimacy of the communist ruling. If it’s proved to be worse than the Western system, the Chinese Communist Party should not rule the country,” he said.

On Dec. 24, China reported zero deaths from COVID between Dec. 20 and 23.

Cheng Jing and Luo Ya contributed to this report.