China on Friday revised upwards by nearly 1,300 deaths Covid-19 fatalities in the first pandemic epicentre, the city of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in late last year.
The addition, reported by state news agency Xinhua on Friday, brings the nationwide death toll up by nearly 40% to 4,636, the majority coming from the central Chinese Hubei province where Wuhan is located.
The revision of Covid-19 numbers comes amid global doubts of the numbers that China’s national health commission (NHC) had been releasing daily since the end of January.
It is set to bring into question the official numbers released by China.
Wuhan authorities also increased the number of confirmed cases by 325.
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Wuhan as of the end of April 16 was revised up by 325 to 50,333, and the number of fatalities up by 1290 to 3869, state media reported Friday.
China had until Friday staunchly defended the official numbers of Covid-19, dismissing all suspicion as fuelled by western governments and antagonistic media reporting.
In a notification released on Friday, the Wuhan municipal headquarters for the Covid-19 epidemic prevention and control said the revisions were made in accordance with related laws and regulations as well as the principle of being responsible for history, the people and the deceased.
The notification listed four reasons for the discrepancy.
Four reasons for the data discrepancies were listed in the notification.
It said that a surging number of patients at the early stage of the epidemic “…overwhelmed medical resources and the admission capacity of medical institutions. Some patients died at home without having been treated in hospitals.”
It added that overworked doctors were “preoccupied” with saving lives and treating patients, which resulted in late reporting of Covid-19 toll.
The notice said that due to a rapid increase of designated hospitals for treating Covid-19 patients, including those administered by “…ministries, Hubei province, Wuhan city and its districts, those affiliated to companies, as well as private hospitals and makeshift hospitals, a few medical institutions were not linked to the epidemic information network and failed to report their data in time”.
The registered information of some of the deceased patients was incomplete, and there were repetitions and mistakes in the reporting, the health authorities added.
“What lie behind epidemic data are the lives and health of the general public, as well as the credibility of the government,” an official in Wuhan told state media, adding that the timely revision of the figures, among other things, shows respect for every single life.
