(CNN) – China has revised its official death toll from the novel coronavirus, raising the number of fatalities attributed to the pandemic by more then a third.
Officials in Wuhan, where the virus was first reported late last year, on Friday added 1,290 coronavirus deaths to the city’s toll. They also added 325 confirmed cases to the city tally.
The total number of cases recorded in the city now stands at 50,333, with 3,869 deaths. The previous reported death toll for Wuhan was 2,579 — so the revised figure marks a 50% increase in the number of deaths in the city from coronavirus.
As of April 17, China’s National Health Commission had reported 3,342 deaths nationally, before the revised Wuhan figures were published.
Officials explained that the deaths had initially gone uncounted because in the early stages of the pandemic some people died at home, overwhelmed medics were focused on treating cases rather than reporting deaths and a delay in collecting figures from various government and private organizations.
They added that the figures had been revised to show “accountability to history, to the people and the victims,” as well as to ensure “open and transparent disclosure of information and data accuracy.”
This isn’t the first time health authorities in China have changed numbers related to the pandemic. The way cases were counted was changed three times in January and February, leading to widespread confusion over the extent of the crisis in China.
Experts have also previously raised the alarm over China’s approach to measuring asymptomatic cases. Some patients who tested positive for the virus but did not show symptoms were not included in official tallies, making comparing China’s figures to the rest of the world difficult.
This story was first published on CNN.com, “Wuhan officials have revised the city’s coronavirus death toll up by 50%”
