CHINA — Satellite images taken over a number of Chinese cities show crowd at crematoriums as Covid surges again in the overcrowded country. China fights an unprecedented wave of Covid-19 infections after removing rigorous pandemic limits, satellite photos of several Chinese towns have revealed crowds at crematoriums and burial homes, CNN reported.
The photographs, which were captured by Maxar in late December and early January and examined by CNN, depict lines of cars parked outside of funeral facilities in Kunming, Nanjing, Chengdu, Tangshan, and Huzhou as well as a funeral home outside of Beijing that appears to have built a brand-new parking area.
Following more than two years of rigorous regulations on residents’ private life, China recently abandoned its strict zero-Covid stance to the virus, which had provoked widespread outrage.
The Communist Party regularly emphasised this comparison to show how China’s tight policies protected its citizens from the kind of mass killings experienced in Western countries.
The overcrowding in funeral homes and crematoriums depicted in the satellite images is consistent with CNN’s findings and eyewitness testimonies posted on social media.
About Satellite images showing Covid, CNN says it has firsthand reports from Beijing on the temporary storage locations for the deceased.
With only 37 deaths reported since December 7, China’s official Covid-19 mortality toll since it relaxed limits has remained startlingly low.
China has been accused by the WHO and the US of downplaying the seriousness of its current outbreak as reports of overcrowded hospitals and funeral homes pour in. Top global health experts have urged Beijing to disclose more information on the explosive spread.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “We continue to ask China for more timely, frequent, accurate data on hospitalisations and deaths, as well as more extensive, real-time viral sequencing.”
“WHO has highlighted the need of vaccination, including booster doses, to prevent against hospitalisation, serious illness, and death,” he said. “WHO is worried about the risk to life in China.”
More specifically, Mike Ryan, WHO’s executive director for health emergencies, claimed that in terms of hospital and ICU admissions, as well as deaths, the figures provided by China “under-represent the full burden of the disease.”
He recognised that hospital data reporting has lagged in many nations, but he pointed to China’s definition of a Covid death as a contributing factor.
