“Deaths from underlying illnesses are not COVID-19 deaths,” says Chinese epidemiologist

The chinese epidemiologist Wang Guiqiang declared on Tuesday that the deaths of patients with COVID-19 caused by underlying diseases “are not counted as deaths from COVID-19,” the Global Times newspaper reported today.

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Wang, director of the department of contagious diseases at a hospital in the capital, noted that “the main cause of death among those infected with COVID-19 remains the underlying diseases.”

The expert indicated that the omicron variant of the coronavirus “rarely” causes respiratory failure, although he admitted that it can cause pneumonia in some patients.

“Deaths from pneumonia or respiratory failure due to the coronavirus are classified as deaths from COVID-19,” Wang said, noting that deaths caused by “cardiovascular diseases” are not recorded as deaths from COVID-19.

The National Health Commission announced two deaths from COVID-19 on Monday, while yesterday it registered another five, the first since the 3rd, just before the Government relaxed its strict ‘zero covid’ policy and, among other measures, allowed those infected to isolate themselves in their homes instead of being held in isolation centers, as had been the case for the past three years.

The dismantling of the policy has left the country dealing with an increase in the number of infections that, however, is not reflected in official statistics -China reported only 3,101 new cases this Wednesday-, once the PCR tests to which residents had to undergo several times a week to be able to access public establishments and that were the main detection tool.

Officially, China has announced 5,241 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

Videos shared on social networks show long lines at crematoriums in cities such as Beijing, while some users of Weibo, equivalent to Twitter, assure that “it is impossible” that the number of casualties offered is real.

“I know of many more people who have died in recent days apart from those figures that we see in the statistics,” comments one user, while another makes calculations and ensures that in Beijing, where more than 20 million people live, they will die. at least 15,000 residents this winter.

In this sense, the private newspaper Caixin recently assured that the authorities have changed the way in which deaths from the virus are classified “to ensure that the death is due to COVID-19 and not to underlying diseases.”

The Chinese government assured earlier this month that the “conditions” were in place for the country to adjust its measures in the face of a “new situation” in which the virus causes fewer deaths, although it also announced a plan to accelerate vaccination of the elderly. , one of the most vulnerable groups but at the same time more reluctant to be inoculated.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.