‘Matter of time’: Photos show bodies piling up in China as Covid cases explode

Beijing is downplaying the Covid crisis suddenly sweeping the nation – but disturbing photos reveal a very different story.

Scores of horrifying photos and videos have revealed just how devastating China’s current Covid crisis has become, despite authorities insisting the situation is under control.

Recent pictures taken in the nation – which has quickly emerged as the world’s Covid hotspot – show piles of bodies lying on the ground in morgues and hospital hallways, with footage revealing medical centres already stretched to the limits and funeral parlours buckling under a sudden surge in demand.

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Clockwise from top left: An emergency resuscitation room overflows with patients, bodies piled up in a morgue, a man begs with hospital staff to help his child who has a high fever. Picture: Twitter

I tweed this morning and my anxiety is building. We're sitting ducks. There's a spurt in #covid deaths in #China and a threat of new variants. Won't be long before we go into a #lockdown if entry protocols for int'l pax are not tightened.@mansukhmandviya@JM_Scindia@MoHFW_INDIApic.twitter.com/aC4liSoSIA

— TANUJ GARG (@tanuj_garg) December 20, 2022

However, despite the clear evidence of the escalating crisis, the official Covid death toll for December stands at just 10, with officials doubling down on the decision to abandon China’s zero-Covid policy after years of draconian lockdowns.

Within days of the harsh restrictions lifting, cases began to explode, with international epidemiologists and studies predicting the latest wave could result in millions of deaths.

Of key concern is China’s so-called “R number”, which refers to how many people an average Covid patient infects.

Chinese President Xi Jinping abruptly abandoned his zero-Covid strategy recently. Picture: Bandar Al-Jaloud/various sources/AFP

China National Health Commission scientists estimate the R number is now 16 in China – far higher than that of other countries during previous Covid waves – with experts bracing for more than 60 per cent of the population to be infected in the coming weeks.

And while a rise in the Covid death toll is expected as a nation reopens – a trend seen across the globe over the course of the pandemic – China is thought to be especially vulnerable, given the country’s low vaccination rates, especially among the elderly.

China’s reliance on its own vaccines, which have been proven to be less effective at preventing serious illness and death than mRNA jabs used across the world, have also added to the current anxiety being felt.

40yo star dies from Covid complications

In addition to the grim scenes of China’s mounting death toll, the death of renowned Beijing actor and opera singer Chu Lanlan at 40 from Covid complications has also brought home just how serious the current surge is.

The star’s death was confirmed by a student on Chinese social media platform Weibo, who claimed the virus triggered underlying health conditions.

Her death has stunned many, given her age and the fact she had been seen alive and well by adoring fans at a performance just weeks ago.

Holy cow—famed Beijing Opera singer Chu Lanlan 储兰兰 died in Beijing - reportedly due to complications from #COVID. She was only 40 years old. ➡️now we gonna take COVID surge in China seriously finally? https://t.co/u5pkH6nGob

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) December 20, 2022

Sneaky rule change amid ‘cover up’ rumours

Meanwhile, it has emerged that China secretly changed the definition of what constitutes a Covid death earlier this month, coinciding with the easing of restrictions.

Beijing now only considers those who died of respiratory failure while Covid positive as official virus deaths, while previously, any death while Covid positive counted towards the official tally.

Disturbing video has emerged showing a hospital ward and room inundated with Covid-19 patients in China. Picture: Twitter

The quiet rule change has added further fuel to growing speculation of a deliberate underreporting of cases and deaths, with many accusing the Chinese government of covering up the true crisis.

“Few died from respiratory failure caused by Covid and the most common cause of death is underlying disease,” leading infectious disease doctor Wang Guiqiang told journalists this week by way of explanation.

The nation has recorded just over 5200 Covid deaths since the start of the pandemic, compared with more than 16,000 in Australia – a nation with a fraction of the population.

Global chaos

While it’s tempting to view China’s current crisis as an isolated problem, experts have warned that it has the potential to wreak havoc across the globe, by causing widespread infections and supply chain chaos, with possible shortages of crucial medicines and goods in the not-too-distant future.

People queue to buy medicine at a pharmacy amid the Covid-19 pandemic in Nanjing, in China's eastern Jiangsu province on December 20. Picture: AFP

There are already shortages of cold medications within China, with Harvard-trained US epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding claiming this week that “we need to worry about supply chains if China’s Covid explosion continues”.

“What happens in China doesn’t stay in China — Wuhan was our lesson three years ago. The global fallout of this 2022-2023 wave will not be small,” he warned, adding that he believed the “global economic fallout from China’s new mega tsunami wave will be ugly”.