However, hospitals visited by Reuters in Shanghai and Chengdu, as well as others around the country depicted in images and videos posted on social media, had overwhelmed emergency departments and long queues at fever clinics.
Analysts looking to get clues about the true size of outbreak have turned to other indicators, such as how busy crematoriums are. In Tonglu county, residents described how crowded the local crematorium was, echoing what funeral home staff in other cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have told Reuters.
On Monday afternoon, about 50 family members and neighbours participated in a funeral procession for a 93-year-old woman surnamed Liu who had died on Saturday at Dingyuan village. They were only holding the mourning rites in the afternoon, not in the morning, which is traditional, due to the queues at Tonglu’s main crematorium.
Family members said they did not know if she had COVID-19 as she was not tested for the virus, although she had had trouble breathing and many people in the village and her family members had caught COVID-19 recently.
“It’s hard to say, she was so old anyway,” said a relative, declining to give his name as they lit fireworks and carried wreaths and joss sticks up a hill to lay her ashes on the top.
Source: CNA
