China reports nearly 60,000 people with COVID died since early December

China on Saturday reported nearly 60,000 people have contracted COVID-19 since early December after complaints it failed to release data, and said the “emergency peak” of the latest surge appeared to have passed.

The number includes 5,503 deaths due to respiratory failure caused by COVID-19 and 54,435 fatalities from other diseases combined with COVID-19 since December 8, the National Health Commission announced. He said most “COVID-related deaths” are occurring in hospitals, which leaves open the possibility that more people are dying at home.

The report would double China’s official COVID-19 death toll to 10,775 since the disease was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019.

China stopped reporting data on COVID-19 deaths and infections after suddenly lifting anti-virus controls in early December despite a surge in infections that began in October and has filled hospitals with feverish, wheezing patients.

The World Health Organization and other governments are appealing for information after reports from city and provincial governments suggest that hundreds of millions of people in China may be infected with the virus.

The peak of infection may have passed

The peak of the latest wave of infections appears to have passed based on a drop in the number of patients visiting fever clinics, National Health Commission official Jiao Yahui said.

The daily number of people going to the clinic was 2.9 million on December 23 and dropped 83 percent to 477,000 on Thursday, according to Jiao.

“The data shows the peak of the national emergency has passed,” Jiao said at a press conference.

The United States, South Korea, Canada and other governments have imposed virus tests and other controls on people arriving from China. Beijing retaliated on Wednesday by suspending new visas for travelers from South Korea and Japan.

Tensions over ‘zero-COVID’ strategy

China has kept infection and death rates lower than the United States and some other countries at the peak of the pandemic with a “zero-COVID” strategy that aims to isolate every case. That closed access to several cities, keeping millions at home and sparking angry protests.

The average age of those who died as of Dec. 8 was 80.3 years and 90.1 percent were 65 and older, according to the Health Commission. It said more than 90 percent of those who died had cancer, heart or lung disease or kidney problems.

“The number of elderly patients who die from illness is quite large, which shows that we need to pay more attention to elderly patients and try our best to save their lives,” Jiao said.

This month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said agency officials met with Chinese officials to stress the importance of sharing more details on the COVID-19 problem including hospitalization rates and genetic sequencing.