China: Wuhan revises up 45% coronavirus fatalities

By Sorwar Alam

ANKARA (AA) - On Friday the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus first emerged last year, revised upwards its death toll by 1,290 to 3,869 – an increase of 45%.

It also revised up its number of confirmed cases by 325 to 50,333, according to a statement from the Wuhan Municipality.

The authorities gave four reasons for the revision in official figures.

Some patients died at home without seeing a doctor or being tested for the virus as hospitals were overwhelmed during the epidemic’s peak, said the statement.

Late and incomplete reporting due to medical workers and institutions overwhelmed by the epidemic was another reason for the miscalculation, it underlined.

The third reason, the statement said, was: "Some 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," it added.

The addition brings the nationwide death toll to 4,636.

While the pandemic first emerged in China, Europe and the U.S. have since outpaced it in terms of both cases and fatalities due to the virus.

The revision in COVID-19 cases and deaths comes on the heels of the second-biggest economy in the world reporting its worst economic performance in decades as the impact of the virus hits.

China's growth domestic products for the first quarter of 2020 contracted by 6.8%, more than expected, with the first decline since at least 1992, when official quarterly GDP records started.