Official figures reveal a substantial increase in cremations in China's Zhejiang province during the first quarter of 2023, coinciding with a widespread COVID-19 outbreak. Data from the provincial civil affairs bureau, now removed, indicated approximately 171,000 cremations occurred in the first three months of the year, a stark 70% rise compared to the 99,000 recorded during the same period in 2022. Zhejiang represents roughly 5% of China's total population.
This surge in cremations comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) has criticized China for a lack of transparency regarding the true impact of COVID-19 on its 1.4 billion citizens, particularly following the abrupt abandonment of strict pandemic control measures in December 2022. While official Chinese reports cited around 80,000 COVID-related hospital deaths in the initial two months after restrictions eased, anecdotal evidence from funeral homes painted a picture of overwhelmed facilities and extensive queues at crematoriums. Independent epidemiological estimates during that period suggested a significantly higher death toll, potentially reaching as high as 2 million.
The image above depicts individuals lining up for COVID-19 tests in Zhejiang province on January 2, 2022, following the detection of new cases.
The removed Zhejiang data did not specify the cause of death for the cremations. Furthermore, data for the fourth quarter of 2022 is also unavailable. The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs, responsible for compiling national mortality statistics, has not released nationwide cremation data for the relevant period. Both the Zhejiang provincial government and the Ministry of Civil Affairs have not responded to inquiries regarding this matter.
For three years following the initial outbreak in late 2019, China successfully contained the virus through a stringent "zero-COVID" strategy involving lockdowns and mass testing. However, the highly contagious Omicron variant overwhelmed this approach by late 2022, straining local government resources and leading to widespread public protests in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai. This ultimately prompted the sudden policy shift in December 2022. By January 2023, a government scientist estimated that a staggering 80% of China's population had been infected with the virus.
