Crematoriums all over China said AFP They were scrambling to deal with the influx of bodies on Tuesday as the country battles a wave of Covid cases that authorities have admitted are impossible to trace.
Hospitals are struggling and pharmacy shelves have been left empty in the wake of the Chinese government’s sudden decision last month to lift nearly three years of lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing.
In Chongqing, a city of 30 million where authorities this week urged people with “mild” Covid symptoms to go to work, a crematorium said AFP they had run out of space to store the bodies.
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“The number of bodies collected in recent days is many times higher than before,” said a staff member who did not give his name.
“We are very busy, there are no more cold rooms for the bodies,” they added.
“We’re not sure (if it’s Covid related), you need to ask the leaders in charge.”
In the southern megapolis of Guangzhou, a crematorium in Zengcheng district said AFP they cremated more than 30 bodies a day.
“We have bodies assigned to us from other districts. There is no other option,” said an employee.
Another crematorium in the city said they were also “extremely busy”.
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“It is three to four times busier than in previous years, we are cremating more than 40 bodies a day when before it was only a dozen,” said a staff member.
“All of Guangzhou is like this. We have been constantly receiving calls,” they added, emphasizing that it was “difficult to say” if the increase in bodies was related to covid.
In the central city of Baoding, a crematorium employee said AFP, “Of course we are busy, what workplace is not busy now?”
In the capital Beijing, local authorities reported just five deaths from Covid-19 on Tuesday, up from two the day before.
Outside the city’s Dongjiao Crematorium, AFP reporters saw more than a dozen vehicles waiting to enter, most hearses or hearses displaying somber-colored ribbons and bouquets of flowers.
The delays getting into the crematorium were obvious, with a driver at the front of the queue saying AFP I had already waited several hours.
It was not immediately clear if a spike in Covid deaths was causing the delay, and crematorium staff declined to answer questions.
The end of mandatory testing has made it difficult to track the death toll from China’s surge in Covid, and authorities admitted last week that it is now “impossible” to count the full scale of the sick.
