Wuhan revises COVID-19 death toll upwards by 50 percent

Wuhan, the Chinese city where the global coronaviurs pandemic began last year, has raised the death toll by over 50 per cent to 3,869.

The total figure of the confirmed cases in the province has been increased by 325 to 50, 333 and the death toll has been increased by 1,290 to 3,869, which is a jump of more than 50 percent, Xinhua reported.

According to official notification released on April 16 by the Wuhan authorities, there are four specific reasons for an upward revision of death toll.

The disease has infected over 2,172,000 people and killed 146,201 people globally.

The notification gave four reasons for data discrepancies.

"First, a surging number of patients at the early stage of the epidemic overwhelmed medical resources and the admission capacity of medical institutions. Some patients died at home without having been treated in hospitals."

Second during the height of their treating efforts, hospitals were operating beyond their capacities and medical staff were preoccupied with saving and treating patients, resulting in belated, missed and mistaken reporting."

Third, due to a rapid increase of designated hospitals for treating COVID-19 patients, including those administered by ministries, Hubei Province, Wuhan city and its districts, those affiliated to compes, as well as private hospitals and makeshift hospitals, a few medical institutions were not linked to the epidemic information network and failed to report their data in time."

Fourth, the registered information of some of the deceased patients was incomplete and there were repetitions and mistakes in the reporting."

Questions have been raised on the actual death toll in Wuhan and China due to coronavirus which has taken a heavy toll in some Western countries.

Authorities have released the notification under Article 38 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, which stipulates that "information on the epidemic situation of infectious diseases shall be released in a timely and accurate manner."

( With inputs from ANI )