China Covid: Five deaths under country's new counting method

China has outlined the way it counts Covid-19 deaths amid scepticism about the reliability of official government figures.

It only counts people who die from respiratory illnesses, such as pneumonia, in its coronavirus death toll.

Officially, there have only been seven Covid deaths in the past few days and zero in the previous two weeks.

The counting method goes against World Health Organization guidance.

It means people with other underlying health problems, such as heart disease, are not classified by China as having died from Covid.

China has a strict criteria for confirming Covid-19 cases, which includes evidence in patients of lung damage caused by the virus. This must be confirmed in a scan.

Official figures show a relatively low number of new daily cases and deaths. This has led to fears the numbers are an underestimate due to a recent reduction in Covid testing.

Overall, China says more than 90% of its population has been fully vaccinated. However, less than half of people aged 80 and over have received three doses of vaccine. Elderly people are more likely to suffer severe Covid symptoms.

China has developed and produced its own vaccines, which have been shown to be less effective at protecting people against serious Covid illness and death than the mRNA vaccines used in much of the rest of the world.

In a bid to address the concerns the State Council held a news conference on Tuesday.

Infectious disease expert Prof Wang Gui-qiang said only pneumonia and respiratory failure caused by the coronavirus will be counted as Covid deaths.

Deaths caused by underlying diseases will not be included in the official count, state-owned China News Service reported.

The latest wave has also hit postal and catering services hard.