China claims COVID-19 deaths cut in half during Lunar New Year period

Jan. 28 (UPI) -- China on Saturday reported its death toll from COVID-19 fell by 50% last week even as the country celebrated the Lunar New Year with loosened restrictions.

China's mainland recorded 6,364 deaths in hospitals from the virus between Jan. 20 and 26, according to numbers released Saturday by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

That figure is far lower than the previous week, when the Chinese CDC reported 12,658 COVID-19 deaths.

Of last week's deaths, 289 were caused by respiratory failure while the remaining 6,075 victims succumbed to underlying conditions after testing positive for COVID-19, the health agency said.

The lower death toll comes as the country continues to relax its previous "zero-tolerance" COVID-19 policy, a move that first started in early December and which has continued through the Lunar New Year and accompanying Spring Festival.

Chinese officials predicted its citizens will take 2.1 billion passenger trips over the 40-day period around the holiday as people head on vacation.

China has reported more than 80,000 deaths related to COVID-19 since the onset of the global pandemic.

More than 215,000 people remained hospitalized suffering from COVID-19 in the country, the Chinese CDC.

China recorded nearly 60,000 COVID-19-related deaths during the one-month period between Dec. 8 and Jan. 12.