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More or Less: Can China's data on Covid deaths be trusted?

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Can China's data on covid deaths be trusted?

07/01/2023 GMT

Can China's data on Covid deaths be trusted?

BBC World Service - More or Less, Can China's data on Covid deaths be trusted?

Is China under-reporting data on Covid related deaths?

When the pandemic took hold, the Chinese government imposed a Zero-Covid policy that aimed to contain the virus through mass-testing and strict lockdowns. 

But early last December, amidst widespread public protests, and the spread of the omicron variant to more than 200 cities, those draconian, highly restrictive measures were lifted almost entirely. 

For the first time in just under two years, the majority of the country’s near one-and-a-half billion citizens were free to meet, mix and mingle where they pleased, triggering what experts believe is a gargantuan exit-wave of covid infections - and related deaths. Some analysts say death rates there could be as high as15,000 per day. But the Chinese authorities are reporting 5 or fewer deaths a day. The numbers don't stack up, so More or Less's Paul Connolly speaks to some of the world's leading experts and epidemiologists to work out if China's data on covid deaths can be trusted - and, if not, what the real death toll could be. 

Presenter: Paul Connolly
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
 
(A coffin is loaded from a hearse into a storage container at the Dongjiao crematorium which handles Covid-19 cases. Beijing China Dec 18 2022 /Getty images)

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