China's world-beating drop in Covid-19 deaths revives data concerns

China is posting the steepest drop in Covid deaths among more than 20 places hit hardest by omicron, reviving questions about its virus data and the true impact of the reopening wave as Beijing works to move on from the pandemic.
 

After meticulously tracking cases for most of the pandemic, China abruptly abandoned its signature zero-tolerance policy at the end of 2022, halting mass testing, quarantines and lockdowns, and narrowing its definition of what constitutes a Covid death. Now, China’s mortality rate is falling at the fastest pace of all the places globally that saw massive omicron waves last year,