Workers at Beijing crematoriums said on December 16 they are overwhelmed as China faces a surge in Covid cases that authorities warn could hit its underdeveloped rural hinterland during upcoming public holidays.
Workers at Beijing crematoriums said on December 16 they are overwhelmed as China faces a surge in Covid cases that authorities warn could hit its underdeveloped rural hinterland during upcoming public holidays.NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images
  • Overwhelmed funeral homes in China are struggling with a lot of dead people.

  • Families are only given 5 to 10 minutes to grieve at one facility.

  • People are standing in line outside of funeral homes to sell their spots.

The funeral parlours of China have become the latest industry to be under attack.

The funeral home that handles the most corpses in a day is only giving families five to 10 minutes to grieve, according to the report.

The outlet wrote that Longhua Funeral Home allowed mourners to pay their respects before being taken away.

One Longhua employee said the entire system was paralyzed.

At least thirty people had started queueing at 2 a.m. on December 27th, according to one user, who posted videos of long lines on Weibo. Insider was unable to verify the authenticity of the videos.

People are selling their spots at marked up prices outside crematoriums because of high demand.

The city's public security bureau said in a statement on December 30 that 20 people were arrested at the funeral home on December 29 for not needing a funeral service or death certificate.

Public services in Beijing have been under a lot of stress. According to Beijing Daily, emergency services were overwhelmed with more than 30,000 calls a day.

Residents were urged to only call medical hotlines if they were critically ill. He said that the resources for answering emergency calls are very tight.

A funeral worker put a body to a cart to be cremated at a crematorium in China's southwestern city of Chongqing on December 22, 2022.NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images

COVID death toll in China remains a mystery

China's death toll after its rapid reopening is not known. The central government excludes patients with other pre-existing illnesses from its death toll.

According to reports from the National Health Commission, there have only been six new coronaviruses deaths since December 6th.

When the count was last updated, it stood at 5,241 deaths for the entire Pandemic. On Christmas Day, the commission decided to stop giving daily updates to its coronaviruses figures.

China's death toll could reach millions in a few months, according to data firms in other countries.

The death toll in China from the start of the reopening until April is predicted to be 1.7 million.

According to an analysis firm, 1 million Chinese people will die of carbon dioxide poisoning during the winter.

In the first 20 days of December, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in China estimated that 250 million people were affected by COVID. Two people are familiar with the matter. The government has a count of 348,000 infections.

The rest of the world is on alert because of the expected surge in infections in China. Travelers from China have been required by the US and Japan to have coronaviruses tested.

Beijing lashed out at nations that imposed travel restrictions, saying they lacked scientific basis. "We firmly reject using COVID measures for political purposes and will take corresponding measures in response to different situations based on the principle of reciprocity," Mao said.

China's National Health Commission did not reply to Insider's requests for comment.

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