BEIJING: Wuhan, the central Chinese city at the epicenter of the global pandemic, raised its number of COVID-19 fatalities by 1,290 to 3,869 deaths, state media said Friday.

The revision was due to insufficient admission and treatment capabilities at the virus’s peak, according to authorities.

Wuhan’s revised death toll of 3,869 is the highest in China, representing a 50 percent rise from its previous count. Numbers of total cases in the city of 11 million were also raised by 325 to 50,333, accounting for about two-thirds of China’s total 82,367 announced cases.

The official Xinhua News Agency quoted an unidentified official with Wuhan’s epidemic and prevention and control headquarters as saying that during the early stages of the outbreak, “due to the insufficiency in admission and treatment capability, a few medical institutions failed to connect with the disease prevention and control system in time, while hospitals were overloaded and medics were overwhelmed with patients.

“As a result, belated, missed and mistaken reporting occurred,” the official was quoted as saying.

The US and UK have also questioned the accuracy of China’s case figures amid accusations that Beijing sought to minimise the impact of the outbreak and initial delays in its response to the disease.

China has, however, denied reports that it did not reveal the true extent of coronavirus fatalities. Speaking to reporters at a daily briefing Friday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said there has never been a cover-up of the coronavirus outbreak in China and the government does not allow any cover-ups.

(With inputs from Agencies)