Wuhan locals claim 42,000 people died in coronavirus outbreak and not 3,200 claimed by Chinese authorities

Wuhan locals claim coronavirus has killed 42,000 people in the city alone, more than ten times the national figure claimed by Chinese authorities, Daily Mail reports.

The killer bug, which originated in Wuhan in China’s Hubei Province has claimed the lives of 3,300 people and infected more than 81,000.

Of those, 3,182 deaths were reported in Hubei Province.

But residents in Wuhan claim 500 urns have been handed out to grieving families every day from seven separate funeral homes all serving the city.

This means the ashes of 3,500 people are distributed every 24 hours.

The homes – in Hankou, Wuchang and Hanyang – have told grieving families that they will receive the ashes before April 5, the date of Qing Ming festival where people tend the graves of their ancestors.

This means that 42,000 urns could be distributed in that 12-day period.

Earlier reports stated that the Hankou premises received two shipments of 5,000 urns in just two days, according to local media.

It comes as the province relaxed its two-month lockdown of 50million people.

People who have a ‘green’ health certificate – meaning they have tested negative for the virus – were allowed to leave the province from midnight on March 25, the first time they have been allowed out of the region since January 23.

However, restrictions on travelling into and out of the mega-city of Wuhan – where the virus first emerged – will remain in place until April 8.

A resident in Wuhan – who only provided his surname Zhang – told RFA: ‘It can’t be right because the incinerators have been working round the clock, so how can so few people have died?’

Another resident – with the surname Mao  – said: ‘Maybe the authorities are gradually releasing the real figures, intentionally or unintentionally, so that people will gradually come to accept the reality.’

A source close to authorities in Hubei province said many residents had died in their homes without being officially diagnosed.