New estimates released this week from Radio Free Asia, a U.S.-government funded nonprofit, reveal the Wuhan virus death rate in the Chinese city to be far higher than China’s official numbers.
Looking at cremations conducted by area funeral homes, Radio Free Asia estimates the true death toll from the virus to be 46,800 in the city home to the outbreak’s origin. China, however, is reporting the total death rate at 2,500. That’s far less than the 5,000 urns recently sent to one Wuhan funeral home, according to the Chinese news outlet Ciaxin.
Meanwhile, China has begun to lift lockdowns, claiming cases in the East Asian giant are on a steep decline with only more than 3,100 deaths nationwide.
Many have remained skeptical of the Chinese figures, pointing to China’s early deceptive actions at the start of the epidemic. As Federalist Senior Contributor Helen Raleigh explains, China actively suppressed whistleblowers raising the alarm over the virus and turned a blind eye to the threat that has consequently become a global pandemic.
The new estimates provide fresh evidence to contradict China’s claims as the rest of the world struggles to contain the outbreak.
Despite widespread skepticism of China’s reporting, the World Health Organization has continued to tout China’s apparent success in combating the crisis while evading questions related to Taiwan.
‼️WOW‼️ Bruce Aylward/@WHO did an interview with HK's @rthk_news & when asked about #Taiwan he pretended not to hear the question. The journalist asks again & he hangs up!
She calls back & he said "Well, we've already talked about China."
ENJOY+SHARE THE MADNESS! #CoronaVirus pic.twitter.com/jgpHRVHjNX
— 🇺🇦Hong Kong World City☔️ (@HKWORLDCITY) March 28, 2020