China on Friday revised upwards by nearly 1,300 deaths Covid-19 fatalities in the first pandemic epicentre, the city of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in late last year.
The addition, reported by state news agency Xinhua on Friday, brings the nationwide death toll up by nearly 40% to 4,636, the majority coming from the central Chinese Hubei province where Wuhan is located.
The revision of Covid-19 numbers comes amid global doubts of the numbers that China’s national health commission (NHC) had been releasing daily since the end of January.
It is set to bring into question the official numbers released by China.
Wuhan authorities also increased the number of confirmed cases by 325.
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Wuhan as of the end of April 16 was revised up by 325 to 50,333, and the number of fatalities up by 1290 to 3869, state media reported Friday.
China had until Friday staunchly defended the official numbers of Covid-19, dismissing all suspicion as fuelled by western governments and antagonistic media reporting.
In a notification released on Friday, the Wuhan municipal headquarters for the Covid-19 epidemic prevention and control said the revisions were made in accordance with related laws and regulations as well as the principle of being responsible for history, the people and the deceased.
The notification listed four reasons for the discrepancy.
Four reasons for the data discrepancies were listed in the notification.
