In a statement released last week, the health commission of Huludao, Liaoning province, said the debts were mainly the result of the pandemic, with higher costs for preventive equipment and lower income from the government, reports South China Morning Post.

“The Covid-19 outbreaks in the city this year in particular had a huge impact on the normal operations of public hospitals, resulting in sharp rise in debt levels,” the commission said.

The commission was responding to proposals to improve post-pandemic hospital funding submitted by neurosurgeon and Huludao consultative conference member Yi Tongjun, the newspaper reported.

The health authority said the city's finances were already strained.

It said the government had spent huge sums dealing with Covid-19 outbreaks in the city, including building treatment facilities and improving coronavirus testing.

At the same time, the city’s revenue had taken a major hit.

The city, home to 2.4 million people, reported more than 200 confirmed Covid-19 cases in February and March and introduced strict controls, such as partial lockdowns, online teaching and a ban on dining at restaurants, to stop the outbreaks.

“It was already difficult to maintain normal operations to ensure payment of government debt and to make sure employees of the government and government-affiliated institutions received their salary on time,” the commission told the newspaper.

The COVID-19 virus is believed to have first originated from China.