There were almost 2 million excess deaths in the two months after China lifted its "zero-Covid" restrictions, a U.S. study found, contradicting official figures from Beijing that have been criticized as too low.
Researchers estimate there were 1.87 million excess deaths from all causes among people 30 years and older from December 2022 to January, according to the study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle published Thursday.
"Our study of excess deaths related to the lifting of the zero-Covid policy in China sets an empirically derived benchmark estimate," the researchers wrote.
The way the study estimates data is not "scientifically rigorous," but it is nonetheless an "objective" and "beneficial" attempt, Jin added.
Jin said the actual data could be a few percentage points lower or higher than the study estimates.
Persons:
Fred, Jan, Zhanwei Du, Lauren Ancel Meyers, Jin Dong, Jin
Organizations:
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, University of Hong, University of Texas, Baidu
Locations:
China, U.S, Beijing, Seattle, Tibet, University of Hong Kong, Austin