Outside a funeral home in eastern Beijing, dozens of people sheltered from the frigid temperatures with coats and hats on Friday night as workers in protective suits carried out coffins one by one.

When an employee with a clipboard called out a name, a relative would come to the coffin to examine the body. One of those waiting told The Associated Press that his relative had contracted COVID-19.

The deaths linked to the coronavirus appear in Beijing after weeks without reports of fatalities by the Chinese authorities, although the country is in the midst of a rebound in cases.

This increase comes after the government drastically eased some of the pandemic containment measures, which were the strictest in the world. The executive said on Wednesday that he will stop reporting asymptomatic cases as it is impossible to track them once mass screening is no longer mandatory.

This makes it unclear how fast the virus is spreading. Posts on social networks, business closures and other empirical evidence suggest that the number of infected is high.

The number of deaths from the disease is also unclear. Relatives told an AP reporter who visited the Dongjiao Funeral Home that at least two people cremated there had tested positive for the virus.

Health authorities had designated Dongjiao and another funeral home to carry out cremations for those infected, according to a relative of a deceased. The woman recounted that an older relative fell ill in early December, tested positive, and died Friday morning in an emergency room.

In the room there were many people with COVID-19, she added, pointing out that there were not enough nurses to care for them. The woman did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals.

Over the course of about an hour, an AP reporter watched about a dozen bodies being carried out of the funeral home.

Three shop workers at the complex that houses the funeral home said there has been a noticeable increase in the number of people going there in recent days. One estimated that about 150 corpses are cremated daily, up from the usual few dozen before.

One of the employees attributed it to the coronavirus, although another pointed out that with the arrival of winter there are usually more deaths. The workers did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals.

China has not reported deaths from COVID-19 since December 4.

The official death toll from the virus in the country remains low, with just 5,235 deaths, compared to 1.1 million in the United States. But public health experts caution that a direct comparison between the two statistics cannot be made.

The Chinese health authorities count only those who die directly from COVID-19, excluding people with previous illnesses that were aggravated by the virus. In many other countries, guidelines stipulate that any death to which the coronavirus contributed should be counted as a death related to COVID-19.

Experts say this is standard practice in China, but it has been called into question as authorities have tried to downplay the numbers.

Also on Friday, the government ordered rural areas to prepare for the return of migrant workers for the winter holidays to prevent a large spike in infections in communities with limited medical resources.

Returnees must wear a mask and avoid contact with the elderly, and local committees must monitor their movements, according to the regulations, which do not mention the possibility of isolation or quarantine.

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