People are questioning the official Covid death toll as a result of the rising number of public figures’ deaths in China.

Given how young she was, the 40-year-old opera singer Chu Lanlan’s death last month shocked many.

Although they did not provide any specifics regarding the cause of her death, her family expressed their sadness at her “abrupt departure.”

Since China ended its zero-Covid policy in December, there has been a significant increase in infections and deaths.

There are reports of clinics and crematoria becoming overpowered.

However, the nation has ceased publishing daily cases data and has only reported 22 Covid deaths since December based on its own stringent criteria.

At this time, only deaths from respiratory illnesses like pneumonia are taken into account.

The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a warning on Wednesday that China was under-representing the true impact of Covid on the nation, particularly in terms of deaths.
However, the deaths of Chu Lanlan and others have sparked speculation regarding greater losses than the official accounts indicate.

Chu Lanlan was a soprano who specialized in Peking Opera, a theatrical art in which performers use speech, song, dance, and combat movements to tell stories. The specialist news website Operawire says that Chu Lanlan was also involved in charitable causes.
Many Chinese internet users were heartbroken when they learned of the actor Gong Jintang’s passing on New Year’s Day.

In-Laws, Out-laws, the nation’s longest-running television series, made Gong, 83, a household name. Since the show premiered in 2000, his portrayal of Father Kang had captivated viewers for more than two decades.

Although the cause of his death is unknown, many social media users connected it to other older people’s recent deaths.

On the Chinese social media platform Weibo, his co-star Hu Yanfen wrote, “Please God, please treat the elderly better.”

“Father Kang, RIP. “Let’s ensure that we protect the elderly in our families,” a user wrote on Weibo. “This wave has really claimed the lives of many elderly people.

Among the recent deaths was also the well-known screenwriter Ni Zhen. The 84-year-old was well-known for his work on Raise the Red Lantern, which was released in 1991 and is widely regarded by critics as one of the best Chinese films.

Meanwhile, Hu Fuming, a retired Nanjing University professor and former journalist, passed away on January 2 at the age of 87.

He was the primary author of a well-known commentary that was published in 1978. This commentary marked the beginning of China’s “Boluan Fanzheng” period, which was a time of removing chaos and restoring normalcy following the Cultural Revolution under Mao Zedong, the country’s first Communist leader.

16 scientists from China’s top science and engineering academies died between December 21 and 26, according to a media count.

Although none of these deaths mentioned Covid in their obituaries, online speculation has continued.

“Is he also dead from the “bad flu”?” one of the most popular responses to the news of Mr. Ni’s death was this:

Another internet user stated, “Even if you trawl through the entire internet, you can’t find any reference to his cause of death.”

However, protesters who staged rare political demonstrations in November to demand the end of leader Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid policy were also the target of criticism.

“Are those people content now that they are seeing elderly people and paving the way for their freedom?” asked a user of social media.

Mr. Xi appeared to make indirect reference to the protests in his New Year’s address, stating that it was normal for people to have different opinions in such a large country.

However, as China entered a “new phase” in its approach to Covid, he urged individuals to unite.

Although they continue to downplay the severity of this Covid wave that is sweeping the nation, the Chinese authorities are aware of the widespread skepticism.

The director of Beijing’s Institute of Respiratory Diseases acknowledged in an interview with state television that the number of elderly deaths so far this winter was “definitely more” than in previous winters. However, he also emphasized that critical cases remained a small portion of the total number of Covid cases.

This week, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, the People’s Daily, dismissed criticism of the previous zero-Covid policy and urged citizens to work toward a “final victory” over Covid.