China reports ‘zero Covid death’ for 2nd consecutive day

Excluding imported infections, China reported 4,103 new local cases, up from 3,696 a day earlier, according to the news agency Reuters. 

On Friday, severe cases rose by 99 across China, versus an increase of 42 the previous day. The country does not provide absolute figures for severe cases. Official figures have become an unreliable guide as less testing is being done across the country following the recent easing of zero-Covid policies.

As of December 23, mainland China had confirmed 397,195 cases with symptoms, as per Reuters reports. 

Meanwhile, the Chinese government defended the accuracy of its official tally by revealing it had updated its method of counting fatalities caused by the virus, reported CNN quoted by ANI. 

According to the latest guidelines from the National Health Commission, only those whose death is caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure after contracting the virus are classified as Covid deaths, said Wang Guiqiang, a top infectious disease doctor.

He said those deemed to have died due to another disease or underlying condition, such as in the event of a heart attack, will not be counted as a virus death, even if they were sick with Covid at the time, CNN reported, cited by ANI. 

The World Health Organisation’s emergency chief Michael Ryan also commented on China’s criteria for counting Covid-19 deaths and said that the definition was ‘quite narrow’. 

Counting deaths from Covid versus deaths with Covid has been a topic of debate worldwide since the start of the pandemic, said Ben Cowling, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Hong Kong.

He pointed out the debate over how to count Covid deaths would be overshadowed by a bigger issue in China — namely, there is very little PCR testing after the government rolled back mass testing. 

(With inputs from agencies)