JN.1 driving death rates in China: Report

BEIJING: Amid the global rise in fresh Covid-19 cases, China is reportedly experiencing increasing death rates due to infection caused by the JN.1 variant, claimed a media report.

In a report, The Epoch Times claimed that the country’s crematoriums are working round the clock due to a surge in Covid deaths.

This comes after China recently saw a pneumonia outbreak, particularly among the children.

Locals in Henan province in China reportedly revealed that government-run crematoriums are operating all day, and even during the night.

The report claimed that many locals are suffering from fevers and colds, and the local hospitals are all full. Many children have been infected, and more elderly people have died from pneumonia.

According to Zhou Xiang (name changed), a resident in Nanyang city of Henan Province, the people are not allowed to call their illness Covid.

"Now, they are not allowed to say that it is related to Covid-19," Zhou was quoted as saying. "They attribute the elderly patients’ infections to their underlying diseases, because the medical system does not allow them to say that there is Covid-19 virus. Patients’ requests to take Covid-19 test are all denied, and when they ask the doctors (if it’s Covid-19), the doctors don’t tell them. Actually, ordinary people all know that it’s still Covid-19."

It is believed that the death is due to JN.1, from the lineage of the Omicron variant of Covid, currently present in 41 countries.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently classified JN.1 as a separate variant of interest (VOI), from the parent lineage BA.2.86. It was previously classified as VOI as part of BA.2.86 sublineages.

While the WHO claims the infections caused by JN.1 to be mild, the Epoch Times reported that the death rates include young and old.

Zhou said in addition to the elderly, "the young people and children” are also dying. But “the handling of their deaths are relatively low-key. It would be enough for relatives and friends to know about it."

Zhou said that he visited the funeral home twice in recent days to attend funerals and noticed that it was getting crowded. He said that his friend who worked in a funeral home told him that their crematoriums now operate 24 hours a day, the report.

"There are eight crematoriums in the funeral home, all cremating corpses 24 hours a day, which is quite scary," he said.