China says no new Covid deaths after changing norm for recording virus deaths

China said Wednesday that not a single person had died of Covid19 the previous day after changing the criteria for recording virus deaths to mean most are no longer countedHospitals are struggling pharmacy shelves are stripped bare and crematoriums are overwhelmed in the wake of the Chinese governments sudden decision to lift years of lockdowns quarantines and mass testingChina had recorded a total of seven deaths all in Beijing since the decision to lift the zeroCovid policy but removed one death from its official tally WednesdayThe removal followed a government announcement that only those who had directly died of respiratory failure caused by the virus would be counted under Covid death statisticsPreviously people who died of an illness while infected with the virus were counted as a Covid death This way of recording Covid deaths accounts for huge numbers of fatalities in other countriesAt present after being infected with the Omicron variant the main cause of death remains underlying diseases Wang Guiqiang of Peking University First Hospital told a press conference of the National Health Commission NHC on TuesdayOld people have other underlying conditions only a very small number die directly of respiratory failure caused by infection with Covid he saidAnd one expert told AFP that because the prevalant Omicron variant does not affect the lungs as much as other strains of Covid19 the changing definition will mean a great many more cases will now go unrecordedAlso read In Pictures Covid19 cases surge in China rush for medication continuesThe definition that focuses on respiratory failure which develops when the lungs cant get enough oxygen into the blood will miss a large number of Covid deaths Yanzhong Huang a senior fellow for global health at the New Yorkbased Council on Foreign Relations saidThe new definition is a reversal of the international norm adopted since midApril during the Shanghai outbreak which counts a covid death as anyone who died with Covid he addedIt is hard to say this is not politically drivenWe must act quicklyFrom the countrys northeast to its southwest crematorium workers have told AFP they are struggling to keep up with a surge in deathsBut authorities are determined to push ahead with reopening with the central city of Xian Tuesday joining several other major population centres in calling for infected people with no symptoms to go to work as normalBeijing last week admitted the scale of the outbreak has become impossible to track following the end of mandatory mass testingA leading Chinese health expert warned Tuesday that the capital will face a surge in cases over the next two weeks which will continue until the end of JanuaryWe must act quickly and prepare fever clinics emergency and severe treatment resources Wang Guangfa a respiratory expert from Peking University First Hospital told the staterun Global TimesThe country recorded 3049 new domestic Covid cases Wednesday and zero new deathsThe US has said the surge of infections in China has become a matter of international concern and offered to share vaccines to stem the soaring Covid casesWe know that any time the virus is spreading that it is in the wild that it has the potential to mutate and to pose a threat to people everywhere State Department spokesman Ned Price saidThe toll of the virus is of concern to the rest of the world given the size of Chinas GDP given the size of Chinas economyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever