In Shanghai, a resident of a retirement home was placed alive in a body bag and taken to a hearse.
The mistake was only noticed when he was lifted out of the car onto a stretcher again and apparently moved.
The incident was apparently accidentally filmed by a local resident.
His video went viral and caused a storm of outrage.
The responsible district administration of Putuo announced on Tuesday that investigations had been initiated against six people.
The head of the nursing home has been fired.
The doctor involved, who issued the death certificate, had his license revoked.
Two social security officials were also fired.
According to the "People's Daily", the man who was declared dead is in stable condition.
The video shows how one of those involved opens the body bag and finds that the man is still alive.
A geriatric nurse then closes the sack again and goes away to confer with colleagues.
The morgue reportedly praised its staff for discovering the error.
They would have received a reward equivalent to 700 euros.
The events are once again shaking confidence in the Shanghai authorities, which is already at a low point given the lockdown that has been in place for more than four weeks.
In addition, the incident increases concerns about the conditions in the city's old people's homes given the highly contagious omicron variant.
The number of new infections in Shanghai fell to 5669 on Tuesday. In Beijing, twelve of the 16 districts announced that they would test all residents three more times this week for the corona virus.
With the help of such mass tests, the authorities hope to be able to avoid a full lockdown like in Shanghai.
Numerous residential areas in the capital are still cordoned off.