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 Researchers from the University of Oxford and the Chinese Center for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), analysed official death
registry data from Jan. 1 to March 31 last year for changes in
overall and cause-specific deaths.
The death rate in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the
coronavirus that causes COVID-19 was first identified, stood at
1,147 per 100,000 over the period, 56% higher than normally
expected, they found in the study published on Wednesday.
However, outside Wuhan, the death rate was 675 per 100,000, lower
than the expected rate of 715, after nationwide lockdowns reduced
the number of deaths from other causes like ordinary pneumonia or
traffic accidents, according to the study, published by the BMJ.
Official data from China's medical authority puts the total mainland
COVID-19 death toll at 4,636, of which 83.5%, or 3,869 deaths, were
in Wuhan.
China has rejected claims that it under-reported both the total
number of cases and the death toll from COVID-19.
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 An American study of cremation
services in Wuhan released last June said about
36,000 people could have died, 10 times the
official figure.
Local studies also show the number of people
carrying the virus might have been far higher
than first thought. The China CDC said in
December that it found COVID-19 antibodies in
4.43% of Wuhan blood samples, implying that half
a million people had been infected.
Last month, experts deployed by the World Health
Organization arrived in Wuhan to investigate the
origins of the coronavirus. They said it could
have been circulating in other regions before it
was first identified in early 2020, but there
was no evidence of other large outbreaks.
(Reporting by David Stanway; editing by Richard
Pullin)
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