However, these figures contradict a research report published by the National School of Development of Peking University that said that 900 million people, or 64 per cent of the total population in China, had been infected as of January 11, Asia Times reported.
China's hospital is flooded with dead bodies and long queues are seen at crematoria, with 400 million people losing their lives to the epidemic, The Epoch Times reported citing the founder of Falun Gong.
China on Saturday announced that nearly 60,000 Covid-19 deaths were reported since the country lifted its strict "Zero Covid Policy" on December 7, last year, Global Times reported citing National Health Commission.
Aidan Yao, the senior emerging Asia economist at AXA Investment Managers in Hong Kong, has called the lack of pandemic data a cause for concern for the market.
Satellite images of a number of Chinese cities have captured crowding at crematoriums and funeral homes, amid the Covid surge across the country after Beijing lifted severe pandemic restrictions, reported Washington Post.
Incidentally, the scale of the current outbreak of the Covid infections has made it difficult for the authorities to track the Covid infections, following the end of the mandatory mass testing as part of the easing of Covid restrictions.
According to an internal document of the Chinese CDC, 248 million people were infected by the coronavirus between December 1 and 20. As of now, the total number of Covid infections has reached 665 million globally while 6.69 million people have died, Asia Times reported.
This comes as WHO held a high-level meeting with counterparts in China last week to discuss the surge in cases and hospitalisations. Subsequently, WHO's Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution and the COVID-19 clinical management expert network groups both met with Chinese