Horrifying images have emerged from China appearing to show families burning the bodies of their loved ones in the streets, as Covid infections explode and funeral homes and hospitals are overwhelmed.
Reports that China could be experiencing up to a million new cases a day has sparked global fears about the potential for new variants to emerge.
The reports come as Beijing last month axed its 'zero-Covid' policy after three years of strict curbs.
Despite this, authorities in China have claimed only 5,000 people have died from the virus since the policy U-turn.
Shocking video footage shared online showed bodies piling up in hospitals and crematoriums in the weeks after, while the UK's Department of Health confirmed that anyone travelling to England from China will be required to show a negative Covid test.
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Funeral homes and hospitals have said they have been overwhelmed, as international health experts predicted 2.1 million Covid deaths in the coming months.
Families in China appear to have started burning the bodies of their loved ones in the streets (Twitter)
The footage of fires in the streets of China purportedly shows the makeshift cremations (Twitter)The cost of cremations have reportedly increased amid the surge in demand, which has seemingly led some families to take matters into their own hands.
The footage of fires in the streets of China purportedly shows the makeshift cremations.
One such clip shows a wooden casket to the side of a pathway being burned on a small pyre.
The burning appeared to be taking place in a rural area.
Hospitals in Beijing have been working at full capacity to offer treatment for Covid-19 patients (VCG via Getty Images)Another clip, which was said to be in Shanghai, shows a group of residents standing in a car park between high-rise apartment blocks, around what appeared to be another makeshift pyre.
A number of similar clips have surfaced from the city, with two more clips posted online showing bodies being burned in a similar way - with residents lying the body out on bed sheets before drawing a chalk outline around the pyre.
The mourners then fanned the flames with tree branches.
Beijing axed its 'zero-Covid' policy last month, causing cases to soar (Twitter)It comes as a screenshot posted to Weibo showed a resident telling his neighbours in a text message that his father had died and he had been unable to afford the cremation service.
He subsequently told them that he would "find an open space" to burn his father's remains.
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Bloomberg reported that another Weibo user wrote that citizens "couldn't afford to live under lockdown" and could not afford to die, either.
A Beijing funeral service provider told them a cremation, which normally cost a few thousand, could be arranged in three days at the cost of 68,000 yuan, while a same day service would cost 88,000.
Patients wait for treatment at Peking University Third Hospital in Beijing (VCG via Getty Images)They said that bodies were "overflowing everywhere".
China's reported low levels of immunity could mean the virus does not need to develop in order to spread, possibly reducing the risk of a new variant emerging.
Yale University Global Health Expert Chen Xi told the South China Morning Post: The world’s most populous country has a large immunity trap and includes a large number of immunocompromised population, who can harbour the virus for months – that may produce variants of concern.
"It’s possible that there will be less pressure for the virus to evolve to evade immunity further."
Officials in China have stopped releasing data despite numerous reports of a surge in cases and deaths. British health data firm Airfinity has put its estimates at 1 million cases in China and around 5,000 deaths every day.
China's population is believed to be under-vaccinated (Sheldon Cooper/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock)The surge comes after China announced the end of its oppressive zero-Covid approach earlier this month on the back of a spate of protests.
Severe lockdowns have been the norm since the pandemic broke out and experts believe the current spread is due in part to a lower level of immunity.
China's population, meanwhile, is believed to be under-vaccinated.
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