Worried about its global image, China is now trying to cover up its cover-ups.

The Chinese regime has been trying to downplay and conceal the extent of the coronavirus for months, reporting coronavirus numbers that were far below what they should have been and hoping the rest of the world wouldn’t care. Many in the mainstream media fell for this ploy, but nevertheless, global skepticism toward China has rightly continued to grow. So China began revising its numbers, releasing a report last week that raised the death toll in Wuhan, the region where the virus originated, by more than 50%.

China is now reporting that more than 3,869 people have died from the COVID-19 virus in Wuhan, an increase of 1,290 from its previous figure. The number of confirmed cases was also revised upward to 50,333, an increase of 325 people. Yet just a few weeks ago, we were told that China had the virus completely under control.

There’s a simple explanation: China lied.

This should be pretty obvious, considering President Xi Jinping lied about the virus’s existence in the first place, downplayed its significance for months, claimed it was not contagious, and then kicked out every single U.S. journalist when they began asking questions. Meanwhile, the coronavirus spread unabated and in secret, killing thousands more than the government would like to admit, according to the testimonies of Chinese nationals living in Wuhan.

And now that Xi has been confronted about this deception, his government is trying to walk back its earlier claims. But we have no reason to trust China’s new numbers, nor should we rely on its data moving forward. This is a regime known for its habitual dishonesty and appalling authoritarianism — a regime that cares more about its public image than the health of the global community. And the cost has been deadly.