Men carry a casket outside a crematorium in Beijing. AP.
Beijing: China has been witnessing massive surge in Covid cases and the Xi Jinping government is tight-lipped about the deaths caused by the virus. However, videos show the harrowing condition of the Asian nation where people are standing with coffins and body bags in queues to perform the last rights of their loved ones.
The Chinese government has stopped releasing official daily numbers of Covid infections and deaths, but as per estimates, at least 5,000 people are dying every day in the country.
A video shared by epidemiologist and health economist Eric Feigl-Ding shows the plight of people in China. “Epic long lines at crematoriums… imagine having to not just wait for hours to cremate you loved ones, but have to do it carrying their deceased bodies for all those hours… let’s have empathy for the horrific COVID-19 wave crashing into China,” he wrote.
As per reports, crematoriums are working 24 hours to cope with the soaring number of dead as long queues of hearses are seen lined on the streets.
Meanwhile, a forecast by health data analysts Airfinity, China witnessed between 1.3 and 2.1 million deaths between now and the end of March.
A spokeswoman from Airfinity said, “Our analysis suggests deaths could peak in January while cases may peak late December.”
The situation in China began to worsen after Xi Jinping administration, earlier this month, abandoned disastrous zero-Covid policy of draconian lockdowns.
‘Hospitals running out of Oxygen’
Eric Feigl-Ding said most hospitals in China, including “top-level” ones is Beijing are “running out of oxygen”.
He further said China was being hit by a “mega-tsunami” of Covid warned the worst is “yet to come”.
A report by Reuters quoted Beijing-based doctor Howard Bernstein saying that he is being visited by dozens of Covid patients daily and that patients are arriving at his hospital in ever-increasing numbers with almost “all elderly and many very unwell”.
“The hospital is just overwhelmed from top to bottom,” Bernstein said, adding that the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) “is full” as are other wards.
“A lot of them got admitted to the hospital,” he added.
Ambulances are being turned away by hospitals as the ICUs are overwhelmed with patients. In many hospitals, patients are not getting beds and therefore are lying on corridors without oxygen and electricity.
Notably, the Chinese government has reported only seven Covid deaths since restrictions were relaxed dramatically on 7 December, pushing the country’s total toll to 5,241.
China has narrowed its definition for classifying deaths due to COVID by counting only those involving Covid-caused pneumonia or respiratory failure.
With inputs from agencies
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