The videos currently circulating on Chinese social media bring back memories of the early stages of the pandemic.

Yellow body bags are piled up in front of a crematorium said to be in Beijing.

There are mobile cooling systems in the backyard, because apparently there is not enough space to store the many corpses until they are cremated.

Pictures taken in a hospital in the central Chinese city of Chongqing show an overcrowded hospital room.

Patients lie on the floor between the occupied beds, almost all of whom are on drips.

Anna Schiller

volunteer.

  • Follow I follow

The videos give a first indication that the corona virus is raging in China much worse than the government admits.

Just looking at the official statistics released every day by the National Health Commission might give the impression that the situation is under control.

On Friday, the commission reported 3761 new corona diseases for the whole country.

For the fourth day in a row there should have been no new deaths.

But the statistics only count those as corona deaths who also had respiratory problems or pneumonia in addition to their positive test result, said Wang Guiqiang, head of the department of infectious diseases at Beijing University Hospital, one of China's best-known epidemiologists this week.

Corona-positive deaths with previous illnesses, such as cardiovascular problems, are not included in the statistics.

Cold medicine sold out

The World Health Organization (WHO) has sharply criticized the Chinese government for the incomplete recording of the corona numbers.

"WHO is very concerned about the evolving situation in China with increasing reports of serious diseases," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

In order to be able to carry out a risk assessment, the WHO needs "more detailed information" about the severity of the diseases, hospital admissions and the utilization of the intensive care units.

Meanwhile, reports from local authorities indicate that an outbreak is underway in China.

The emergency rooms are said to be overloaded across the country.

In the city of Chongqing, where the video of the overcrowded hospital room is said to have been taken, the local authorities appealed to the population to only call the emergency number in emergencies.

The number of calls to the municipal emergency call center has risen from an average of 2,000 a day to 12,000 since November.

Covid patients who only have mild symptoms should self-medicate and also go back to work.

The AFP news agency reported that a crematorium in the city had reached capacity.

In addition, cold medicines are sold out in many places, especially painkillers and antipyretics.

According to local media, the city government in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, announced on Thursday that it would ration the dispensing of medicines in pharmacies and drugstores with immediate effect.

Sales of ibuprofen and paracetamol have skyrocketed since the beginning of December.

In order to counteract the shortage of medicines, the Chinese authorities are said to have commissioned more than a dozen Chinese pharmaceutical companies to expand their production, if necessary by deploying additional staff.

International news agencies and local media reported that the authorities had occasionally confiscated parts of the production.