BEIJING — China on Thursday reported 239 people died from COVID-19 in June, a sharp rise months after most containment measures were lifted.
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention had reported 164 deaths in May and none at all in April and March.
China began implementing a “zero-COVID” containment strategy in early 2020, crediting the strict lockdowns, quarantines, border closures and mandatory mass testing with significant life-saving.
But in December, the measures were suddenly lifted with little preparation, leading to a recent surge that has claimed the lives of about 60,000 people, according to official figures. According to China’s CDC, deaths peaked in January and February this year, peaking at 4,273 on Jan. 4, but then gradually dropped to zero on Feb. 23.
Chinese health officials did not say whether they expect the trend to continue or whether they would recommend restoring preventive measures.
Two of the deaths in June were due to respiratory failure caused by an infection, while the CDC said the others had underlying conditions. These can include diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and other chronic diseases.
Between January 3, 2020 and July 5, 2023, China reported 99,292,081 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 121,490 deaths to the World Health Organization.
Experts estimate that many hundreds of thousands of people, perhaps even more, may have died in China — far more than the official number, but still at a significantly lower death rate than in the United States and Europe.
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