Updated April 17, 2020 18:53:47

Photo: Wuhan has revised its total number of deaths from COVID-19. (Reuters: Martin Pollard)

The total number of people who have died in Wuhan, the initial epicentre of the global coronavirus outbreak, has been revised sharply up.

City officials on Friday increased the death toll by 1,290, to 3,869, state-run CCTV reported.

This represents a 50 per cent increase on the previous official total of 2,579 in the Chinese city.

Confirmed cases were also increased, by 325 to 50,333.

Many suspect China's official figures remain conservative, speculating there were more victims in the early weeks of the outbreak who died without being tested.

Wuhan has a population of more than 11 million people, which is greater than New York City, where more than 10,000 people have died because of COVID-19.

In recent days, Wuhan has begun to lift its lockdown after declaring a victory over the virus.

State-run news website Xinhua reported that Wuhan municipal headquarters for the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control said the revisions were made in "accordance with related laws and regulations as well as the principle of being responsible for history, the people and the deceased."

Xinhua also said the revised numbers would ensure that the information on the city's COVID-19 epidemic was "open and transparent, and the data are accurate."

The website said the Government agency listed four reasons for the data discrepancy:

• A surging number of patients at the early stage of the epidemic overwhelmed medical resources and the admission capacity of medical institutions, and some patients died at home without having been treated in hospitals
• 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
• 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 companies, 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
• The registered information of some of the deceased patients was incomplete and there were repetitions and mistakes in the reporting

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An official told Xinhua that a group for epidemic-related big data and epidemiological investigations was established in late March.

The group used information from online systems and collected full information from all epidemic-related locations to ensure that facts about every case were accurate and every figure was "objective and correct".

"What lies behind epidemic data are the lives and health of the general public, as well as the credibility of the government," the official said.

He said the timely revision of the figures, among other things, showed respect for every single life.

Reuters

Topics: infectious-diseases-other, respiratory-diseases, covid-19, china

First posted April 17, 2020 15:47:16