China admits Wuhan coronavirus death toll at least 50% higher than first reported

(CBS News)- The number of people who were infected and died from the new coronavirus in China’s central city of Wuhan, where the world’s first infections were reported, has been revised upwards significantly. CBS News correspondent Ramy Inocencio reports that China admitted Friday that about 50% more people died of the disease in Wuhan than previously reported.

The revision comes just a week and a half after the city celebrated the lifting of an unprecedented 76-day lockdown imposed to stop the disease’s spread. The vast majority of China’s infections and deaths were recorded in Wuhan. In real numbers, an additional 1,290 deaths were recorded with Friday’s admission, bringing the total for Wuhan to 3,869. The number of infections was revised up by 325 to 50,333.

China’s government-run Xinhua news agency released a “notice of correction” on Friday, citing “late or missed reporting” of deaths, overloaded medical staff and sick residents who died at home and were not counted in the original tally.

President Trump has increasingly accused China of dishonesty over its response to and reporting on the disease, saying its official numbers “seem on the light side.”

U.S. intelligence agencies, meanwhile, are still investigating how the virus jumped into the human population — including the possibility of an accident at an infectious disease laboratory in Wuhan.

In response to the criticism, China’s Foreign Ministry insisted Friday that the country’s government has never covered up the truth about its coronavirus outbreak.