Financial TimesFinancial Times

China’s disappearing data stokes fears of hidden Covid wave

By Qianer Liu and Edward White

09 Dec 2022 · 4 min read

Editor's Note

China's official coronavirus figures are suspiciously low, given the fact that the government is easing restrictions. As the FT points out in this revealing story, we've been here before.

China is starting to under-report coronavirus cases and fatalities, which experts warn is obscuring the scale and severity of the health crisis just as the world’s most populous country enters its deadliest phase of the pandemic.

Official statistics on Friday revealed no new deaths and only 16,363 locally transmitted coronavirus cases in China, less than half the peak caseload reported last month.

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