‘3 members of 1 family died in 5 days’: Activist as China sees jump in Covid deaths

Jennifer Zeng, an independent journalist based in New York and Chinese human rights activist who has been criticising Beijing for not being forthright about the scale of the Covid-19 outbreak, has claimed that three members of a family died in just five days at Xiaoheba in Yunnan Province. She said while the local government denied that they died of Covid-19, “netizens don't believe the government's denial”.

“3 members of 1 family died in 5 days: grandpa (in his 90s), dad (48 y/o), & mom (46 y/o). 3 boys left behind. Eldest one in hospital. Youngest boy 18 y/o. Neighbors tried to help,” Jennifer tweeted, adding that the video was shot on January 3 in Xiaoheba, Yunnan Province.

Tweeting another video purportedly of the same incident, Jennifer said the video “shows the eldest son rushed to the hospital in critical condition”.

HT independently could not verify the authenticity of the video.

On Saturday, China had said nearly 60,000 people with Covid-19 had died in hospital since it abandoned its zero-Covid policy last month, a big jump from the figures it reported prior to facing international criticism over its data.

While the number swamps the few dozen deaths previously recorded in the official tally — which drew widespread criticism both at home and abroad, including from the World Health Organization — experts say it’s still likely to be an underestimate given the enormous scale of the outbreak and the mortality rates seen at the height of omicron waves in other countries that initially pursued a Covid Zero strategy.

The official toll translates to 1.17 deaths daily for every million people in the country over the course of five weeks, according to a Bloomberg analysis. That’s well below the average daily mortality rate seen in other countries that initially pursued Covid Zero or managed to contain the virus after relaxing their pandemic rules.