Beijing authorities orders China's doctors to avoid listing COVID as cause of death

Doctors in China have been ordered to avoid listing COVID-19 as a cause of death, reported ANI citing The New York Times. This comes after China's COVID-19 death toll has been kept a little over 5,000, despite funeral homes across the country reportedly overflowing amid an increase in virus cases. A Chinese doctor at a hospital in Beijing has been asked to not report COVID-19 as the primary cause of death, New Tang Dynasty Television (NTD) reported citing The New York Times. Amid the China COVID chaos, similar warnings have been issued and circulated on Chinese social media platforms, reported ANI. 

Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on January 4, in a press statement, expressed his concerns about the surge in COVID-19 cases in China. "WHO is concerned about the risk to life in China and has reiterated the importance of vaccination, including booster doses, to protect against hospitalisation, severe disease, and death," the WHO chief said in a press statement.

China COVID-19 Chaos

To contain the negative appearance of the Xi Jinping government on social media platforms, Beijing authorities have ordered Chinese doctors to categorise only those who die after respiratory failure caused by COVID-19, as a COVID-19 death. COVID-19 patients whose had pre-medical conditions would not be counted as a COVID-19 death even if the virus worsened their health condition, reported ANI, as per the news report.

Recently, a typed note was found on a hospital desk shared by a Chinese doctor, which reads, "Try not to write respiratory failure caused by COVID" as the primary cause of death, reported ANI citing The New York Times. This anonymous note was shared internally. Whether it has been received from government officials remains unknown. As per The New York Times report, similar warnings have been circulated on Chinese social media, asking doctors not to "carelessly write COVID" on the death certificates of deceased persons. 

Amid the spike of COVID-19 cases in China, the World Health Organization (WHO) also blamed China for "under-representing" the seriousness of its Coronavirus outbreak in terms of hospital admissions, deaths, and intensive care unit admissions, as per the statement released by the United Nations.

Image: AP