Some residents in Wuhan, China, believe the region's death toll is likely at least 20 times higher than numbers reported by the government.

"It can't be right," a Wuhan resident told Radio Free Asia on Friday. "The incinerators have been working round the clock, so how can so few people have died?"

He added, "They started distributing ashes and starting interment ceremonies on Monday."

Officially, there have been around 3,000 deaths in the Hubei province where Wuhan is located, but residents think the total is more likely 42,000-47,000.

They have estimated that the seven funeral homes in the Wuhan area are giving out 3,500 urns each day. Another calculation estimated the capacity for each funeral home in cremating people. Both estimates have led them to conclude that likely over 40,000 people have died in the area.

"Maybe the authorities are gradually releasing the real figures, intentionally or unintentionally, so that people will gradually come to accept the reality," a resident in the area named Mao said, adding that most people in Wuhan believe the 40,000 death toll number.

Another source said there are people who have died in their houses, but they were never treated for the coronavirus.

"Every funeral home reports data on cremations directly to the authorities twice daily," the source said. "This means that each funeral home only knows how many cremations it has conducted, but not the situation at the other funeral homes."

Bloomberg News also noted that shipments and stacks of urns in Wuhan have sparked questions about the coronavirus death toll in the area.

Accurate figures are hard to come by in China as the country has kicked out every U.S. journalist during the crisis. Officially, the country has fewer cases of the coronavirus than the United States.