The Chinese city where the coronavirus first emerged raised its death toll by 50%, revealing the epicentre of the global pandemic had been much worse hit than Beijing had previously reported.
The revision came as a growing chorus of world leaders suggested China had not been entirely open about the full domestic impact of a virus that has killed more than 140,000 people globally and confined half of humanity to their homes.
It also followed US President Donald Trump ordering a cautious easing of lockdown restrictions in an effort to kickstart his stalling economy, and as GDP data revealed China's economy had slipped into reverse for the first time in decades.