China only counting COVID-19 deaths due to respiratory failure
China has maintained a staggeringly low official death count since the early days of the pandemic, leading many to wonder if the government's numbers were accurate
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}China has tightened its definition of COVID-19-related deaths, only counting respiratory failure toward its total count.
After caving to protester demands and rolling back pandemic-related restrictions, China will only consider death due to respiratory complications in infected patients in the official COVID-19 death toll.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A woman shows her health check QR code as residents line up to get their routine COVID-19 throat swabs at a coronavirus testing site, Dec. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
China's National Health Commission announced the change Tuesday via a briefing in Beijing.
China previously held some of the world’s toughest COVID-19 restrictions and claimed to have maintained a near-zero death rate since the start of the global pandemic in 2019. China lifted the restrictions earlier this month following riots and public protests.
COVID ORIGINS 'MAY HAVE BEEN TIED' TO CHINA'S BIOWEAPONS PROGRAM: GOP REPORT
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A person holds a banner during a protest in solidarity over the COVID-19 restrictions in mainland China during a commemoration of the victims of a fire in Urumqi outside the Chinese consulate in Toronto Nov. 29, 2022. (REUTERS/Chris Helgren)
The newly announced guidelines share a glimpse of behind-the-scenes decisions that have kept the country's pandemic numbers drastically lower than other nations. China has only reported a total of 5,242 COVID-19 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in 2019.
For comparison, the United States officially reports having over 1.1 million COVID deaths, which included a stretch from Dec. 2021 to Jan. 2021, when it averaged thousands of deaths per day.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A pandemic prevention worker wears a protective suit as he checks personal details of a woman lining up to get a swab test at a testing booth as outbreaks of COVID-19 continue in Beijing Nov. 3, 2022. (REUTERS/Thomas Peter)
In Europe, the U.K. reports having just under 200,000 deaths; Italy reports having just over 180,000 deaths; France and Germany report having approximately 160,000 deaths each; and Spain and Portugal report having 116,000 and 25,000, respectively, according to Worldometers.
Fox News' Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.