China says Covid deaths down by nearly 80% since 2023

The number of daily Covid deaths in China has fallen by nearly 80 % since the start of the month, authorities have said, in a sign that the country’s unprecedented infection surge may have started to abate.

Since Beijing abruptly ended its zero Covid policy, a wave of virus shrouded the world’s most populous nation last month.

Beijing’s figures are believed to only represent a fraction of the true toll, given China’s narrow definition of a Covid death and official estimates that swathes of the population have been infected. The CDC last week said nearly 13,000 people had died from Covid-related illnesses between January 13 and 19, adding to a previous announcement that around 60,000 people had succumbed to the virus in hospitals in just over a month.

As per the recent government announcements and media reports the wave may have started to shrink since its peak in the late December and early January when hospitals and crematoriums were crowded.