Chinese authorities raise official death toll by 50%

The Chinese authorities have increased official death toll from COVID-19 in Wuhan by 50%, adding 1290 more fatalities.

Wuhan officials attributed the new figure to updated reporting and deaths outside hospitals. China has insisted there was no cover-up.

It has been accused of downplaying the severity of its virus outbreak.

The latest official figures bring the death toll in the city in China's central Hubei province to 3,869, increasing the national total to more than 4,600.

China has confirmed nearly 84,000 coronavirus infections, the seventh-highest globally, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

In a statement released on Friday, officials in Wuhan said the revised figures were the result of new data received from multiple sources, including records kept by funeral homes and prisons.

Deaths linked to the virus outside hospitals, such as people who died at home, had not previously been recorded.

The "statistical verification" followed efforts by authorities to "ensure that information on the city's Covid-19 epidemic is open, transparent and the data is accurate", the statement said.

(Source:BBC)

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