The number of household registration cancellations in many places has soared, and the demand for coffins in rural areas has soared | Death | Virus | Epidemic

[The Epoch Times, January 26, 2023](Comprehensive report by Epoch Times reporter Xia Song) The epidemic in China is raging, with a high proportion of severe cases and a sharp increase in the number of deaths, medical services are being run out, and there are long queues at crematoria. Although the CCP tried its best to conceal the truth of the epidemic and the death toll, the outside world still found that the number of household registration cancellations in many places has soared, and the death toll in rural areas has pushed up the sales of coffins.

Wang Ning, a member of the Jiangsu medical and health system, told Radio Free Asia that since the beginning of December last year, the number of people who have canceled their household registration has increased by 3 to 5 times year-on-year, and the number is even higher in second- and third-tier cities.

He said: “For example, in this city, 100 people died a month, but now it is basically between 300 and 500 people. Some of my friends are civil servants, and they have to go through the registration cancellation process. The number is three times the usual number. According to some relevant data from those in the funeral business, it is almost 4 to 5 times.”

Wang Ning said that the medical conditions in China’s second and third tier cities are poor and the death toll is higher.

A reporter from Radio Free Asia called Shijiazhuang City Hezuo Road Police Station today (25th) to find out about the cancellation of the household registration. The policeman who answered the call said that the household registration department of the Municipal Public Security Bureau will handle it after the Chinese New Year. The reporter also inquired about the relevant situation at the Baizhuang Police Station in Shenze County, the city. The other party said that there must be a lot of people going to work on the first day of July.

Demand for coffins soars amid huge rural death toll

A reporter from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) interviewed a coffin manufacturer in northern Shanxi Province on the spot. Merchants say they haven’t had time to stop in recent months. Sometimes the coffins sell out and the undertakers “make a small fortune,” said a villager customer.

The BBC said that the real data on the death toll of the epidemic in China has been highly controversial. There are few medical facilities in rural areas, and there are not even official estimates of rural deaths. But the BBC has found evidence that the death toll is considerable and rising.

The BBC reporter had the opportunity to visit a crematorium, and the people inside were very busy; in another village, the reporter also encountered someone who was having a funeral.

According to the report, everyone involved in the funeral industry I met in this part of Shanxi said that the number of deaths from the epidemic was increasing.

Dong Yongming, a doctor who runs a very small rural clinic, told the BBC that at least 80% of the residents had been infected. “All the villagers come to us when they are sick,” he said. “We are the only clinic here.”

As the BBC reporter drove, he noticed some fresh mounds of earth with red flags on them, a lot of them. A sheep herding farmer confirmed that this is a new grave. “Someone died one day, and another died the next day. In the past month, it has not stopped.”

According to the report, it is currently the Chinese New Year holiday. In the past, hundreds of millions of young people returned from cities to their hometowns to celebrate the New Year. However, the villages they returned to are now populated mainly by older people who are more vulnerable to the outbreak.

Responsible editor: Hu Yulong#