The Chinese government announced on Saturday that it has reported a significant number of deaths caused by COVID-19 since early December, following complaints that it was failing to release accurate data.

The National Health Commission reported that there were nearly 60,000 deaths in people who had COVID-19 since December 8, including 5,503 deaths due to respiratory failure caused by COVID-19 and 54,435 fatalities from other ailments combined with COVID-19. The report suggests that the “emergency peak” of the latest surge may have passed.

China stopped reporting data on COVID-19 deaths and infections after abruptly lifting anti-virus controls in early December despite a surge in infections that began in October. The World Health Organization and other governments appealed for information after reports by city and provincial governments suggested that hundreds of millions of people in China might have contracted the virus.

The peak of the latest infection wave appears to have passed based on the decline in the number of patients visiting fever clinics, said a National Health Commission official, Jiao Yahui. The average age of people who died since Dec. 8 is 80.3 years and 90.1% are aged 65 and above, according to the Health Commission. It said more than 90% of people who died had cancer, heart or lung diseases or kidney problems.

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This month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said agency officials met with Chinese officials to underline the importance of sharing more details about COVID-19 issues including hospitalization rates and genetic sequences.