GENEVA/ZURICH • A sharp upward revision in China's coronavirus death toll on Friday was "an attempt to leave no case undocumented" after medical services in Wuhan were overwhelmed at the start of the outbreak, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

Nearly 1,300 people who died of the coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan, or half the total, were not counted in death tolls because of lapses, state media said on Friday, but Beijing dismissed claims that there had been any kind of cover-up.

US President Donald Trump has suggested that China understated its toll of coronavirus deaths, and has condemned the WHO for the support it has given to China's approach in the crisis.

He suspended funding to the United Nations agency last week.

The virus has infected more than 2.2 million worldwide and killed more than 154,000.

Dr Maria van Kerkhove, a WHO epidemiologist who took part in an international mission to China in February, said of the country's revised figures: "This was done in an attempt to leave no case undocumented."

She said the Chinese authorities had gone back over data from funeral services, care homes, fever clinics, hospitals and detention centres, as well as patients who had died at home, in Wuhan, Hubei province, where the outbreak began late last year.

"What they have reported is that the discrepancies in these cases were due to a number of factors. First is that the healthcare system in Wuhan was overwhelmed at one point. And some patients died at home," Dr van Kerkhove said.

"Second is that medical staff were delayed in reporting of these cases because they were focused on providing care for those patients and they didn't fill out the forms in time," she added.

Mild cases were treated in makeshift hospitals in Wuhan stadiums or other facilities, she said, adding: "In those situations, the reporting wasn't done in a timely manner and so those cases were added."

It was important to know the number of people who had died from the disease and to have "accurate reporting", which can be a challenge during an outbreak, she said.

"I would anticipate that many countries are going to be in a similar situation where they will have to go back and review records and look to see did we capture all of them."

Dr Michael Ryan, WHO's top emergencies expert, said: "It is important that countries provide that data as quickly as they can in the interest of moving our collective efforts forward to control this pandemic."

REUTERS