China's official death toll from the new coronavirus spiked dramatically on Thursday after authorities changed their counting methods, fueling concern the epidemic is far worse than being reported.
The developments came hours after President Xi Jinping claimed "positive results" from efforts to contain an epidemic that has now officially killed 1,367 people and infected nearly 60,000. Hubei authorities said the increases were because they had broadened their definition for infection to include people "clinically diagnosed" via lung imaging.Health officials said they looked into past suspected cases and revised their diagnoses, suggesting older cases were also included in Thursday's numbers.
But it has faced continued skepticism among the global public, with fears that there may be similarities to the way it dealt with SARS. Yun Jiang, a China researcher at Australian National University, said the new methodology may be a "practical measure" because Hubei has a shortage of laboratory testing kits.
Both are seen as "Xi's men" with security backgrounds, said Richard McGregor, senior fellow at the Lowy Institute think tank.
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