China’s virus death toll revised up sharply after review

The higher numbers are not a surprise.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

04/17/2020 07:18 AM EDT

"BEIJING — China’s official death toll from the coronavirus pandemic jumped sharply Friday as the hardest-hit city of Wuhan announced a major revision that added nearly 1,300 fatalities.

The new figures resulted from an in-depth review of deaths during a response that was chaotic in the early days. They raised the official toll in Wuhan by 50% to 3,869 deaths. While China has yet to update its national totals, the revised numbers push up China’s total to 4,632 deaths from a previously reported 3,342.

The higher numbers are not a surprise — it is virtually impossible to get an accurate count when health systems are overwhelmed at the height of a crisis — and they confirm suspicions that many more people died than the official figures had showed.

The undercount stemmed from several factors, according to a notification issued by Wuhan’s coronavirus response headquarters and published by the official Xinhua News Agency."

moar:

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/17/chinas-virus-death-toll-revised-up-sharply-after-review-192126

yesterday in case missed not surprised