BEIJING – China’s weekly Covid-19 deaths in hospitals dropped to less than 1,000 as the record wave of infections that rippled through the country following the abandonment of Covid Zero abates.

There were 912 fatalities linked to Covid-19 at hospitals between Feb 3 and Feb 9, according to a report from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

That figure was down from 3,278 a week earlier – a drop of 72 per cent.

In the latest tally, 27 people died from respiratory failure and 885 died from other underlying diseases while infected with Covid-19.

Official figures show a continued, rapid decline in deaths since the chaotic early days of China’s pivot away from Covid Zero.

It was reported that that period saw crematoriums overwhelmed and residents struggling to get medical care.

But the country’s virus figures have repeatedly drawn criticism for a lack of transparency after the authorities narrowed their definition of what counts as a Covid-19 death.

They have since reported on fatalities that fall outside the narrower definition in an attempt to appease those concerns.

However, the true toll could be hundreds of thousands higher than the official tally, which counts only deaths at hospitals. 

Daily Covid-19-related deaths at hospitals peaked at around 4,273 on Jan 4.

In total, there have been more than 83,000 fatalities since Dec 8, according to CDC figures.

China is not likely to see another wave in the coming months, and the chance of getting infected for people who have not got Covid-19 yet is now low, Dr Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at China’s CDC, said at a press briefing last week. BLOOMBERG