China is suffering an estimated 5,000 unofficial deaths a day in brutal COVID-19 surge

Crematorium in Chongqing, China
(Image credit: Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images)

China officially attributes just 5,200 deaths to COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, including fewer than 40 COVID deaths since Beijing lifted President Xi Jinping's strict but ultimately futile "zero COVID" strategy Dec. 7, The Washington Post reported Monday night. But "projections made by international experts put the real death toll closer to 5,000 people each day, with several models predicting more than 1 million COVID deaths in China in 2023."

Chinese public health officials acknowledge that COVID spread rapidly after the lockdowns and mandatory testing were eased. But government censors are removing videos of long lines of mourners waiting to cremate dead family members, the Post reports. A review of satellite images, videos posted to China's version of TikTok, and interviews with mourning relatives and overworked morgue workers affirm the surge in deaths.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.