BBC reported that as celebrities’ deaths continue in China, doubts about the statistics of the country’s COVID-19 deaths are increasing.
According to the BBC, news of the death of actor Gong Jin Tang was reported on January 1st, and screenwriter Ni Zhen also passed away at the end of last month at the age of 84.
Gong Jin Tang, 83 years old, is a famous actor who is well known for playing the father of the main character’s family, the Kang family, in China’s longest-running sitcom, “Kang’s Family.” Ni Xhen is best known as the screenwriter for director Zhang Yimou’s 1991 film “Raise the Red Lantern”.
On January 2nd, Hu Fuming, a former professor at Nanjing University, died at the age of 87. He is famous for his column saying that it is not right to follow Mao Zedong’s line uncritically. Famous sopranoChu Lanlan also passed away in December last year at the age of 40. In addition, Zhao Qing, a former actress and politician, died last month.
At least 16 Chinese celebrities lost their lives between the 21st and 26th of December alone, the BBC reported.
However, the cause of their death was not confirmed as COVID-19. However, there are constant suspicions that the Chinese authorities are downplaying the reality of COVID-19.
This is because more and more relatives were posting and deleting memorial messages saying “death from COVID-19 infection” on social media regarding the recent surge in the deaths of celebrities.
In China, the number of confirmed cases is rapidly increasing as the authorities suddenly switched from a “zero Corona” policy to “with Corona” at the end of last month, without any countermeasures being taken.
As the number of confirmed cases in China exploded, the number of deaths presumed to be infected also increased rapidly, and foreign media reported that funeral homes and crematoriums were pushed to their limits.
Nevertheless, the Chinese quarantine authorities announced that only 22 people have died of COVID-19 since December 12th. When suspicions about the statistics emerged, the authorities stopped publishing related statistics altogether from the end of last month.
In this regard, the World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out on January 4th that China understated the true impact of COVID-19, such as the number of deaths, than it actually was. Despite these doubts, Chinese quarantine authorities are still downplaying the severity of the coronavirus, the BBC reported.
Source: Daum.
