People are calling into question the official Covid death toll as the deaths of more Chinese public figures become public.
Given her age, the death of Chu Lanlan, a 40-year-old opera singer, last month came as a surprise to many.
Her family expressed sadness over her “untimely departure,” but did not reveal the cause of death.
China abandoned its strict zero-Covid policy in December, resulting in a rapid increase in infections and deaths.
Hospitals and crematoria have been reported to be overcrowded.
However, the country has stopped publishing daily case data and has only announced 22 Covid deaths since December, based on its own stringent criteria.
Only deaths from respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia are now counted.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday that China was under-representing the true impact of Covid in the country, particularly deaths.