Official data was accidentally published in a province of communist China this week showing that the country has dramatically underreported the true extent of the damage that the coronavirus pandemic has had on its people.

The New York Times reported that the data from the eastern province of Zhejiang was published on a local government website and was later reported on by a Chinese news outlet. Within a couple of days, both reports were deleted.

China has claimed that approximately only 83,700 people have died throughout the course of the entire pandemic across the country. However, the new data showed that in Zhejiang, the province saw a 72,000+ increase in excess deaths during the first quarter of this year alone compared to the same time period last year.

The 70% increase of excess deaths in the province of roughly 65 million people, when extrapolated across the entire country of nearly 1.5 billion people, results in an estimated 1.5 million excess deaths for just the first three months of this year.

China, where the coronavirus pandemic originated in 2019, experienced a coronavirus outbreak so massive late last year that the communist government was forced to end their draconian lockdown measures as nearly the entire country — up to 90% — were infected over the course of just a few months.

The Times previously estimated in February that up to 1.5 million people were killed from China’s latest mass coronavirus wave and, with the accidentally published numbers from China, multiple groups of independent experts agreed that the estimate was likely very accurate.

Those numbers only represent a fraction of the total number of deaths that the country has faced during the course of the pandemic, which originated in Wuhan.

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) released a “conservative” estimate in April 2020 of the number of deaths the country had experienced during the first few months of the pandemic.

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The report said that only a few months in, China likely had a minimum of 136,000 deaths from the pandemic.

The Biden administration is asking Texas to remove barriers on the Rio Grande River that law enforcement officials had put in place to stop illegal crossings.

The Department of Justice is threatening to sue Texas over “humanitarian concerns” if it does not remove the barriers, which were first put in place earlier this month. 

“The floating barrier poses a risk to navigation, as well as public safety, in the Rio Grande River, and it presents humanitarian concerns,” the DOJ said, claiming that it was “unlawful” for Texas to install the barriers.

Governor Greg Abbott tweeted out that Texas would not be removing the barriers, adding that they would see the DOJ in court.

“Texas has the sovereign authority to defend our border, under the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution,” Abbott tweeted. “We have sent the Biden Administration numerous letters detailing our authority, including the one I hand-delivered to President Biden earlier this year.”

“The tragic humanitarian crisis on the border was created because of Biden’s refusal to secure the border. His open border policies encourage migrants to risk their lives crossing illegally through the Rio Grande, instead of safely and legally over a bridge,” he added. “Texas is stepping up to address this crisis. We will continue to deploy every strategy to protect Texans and Americans — and the migrants risking their lives.”

The buoy barriers have been placed in the Rio Grande to deter illegal immigrants from attempting to cross into the U.S. near Eagle Pass.

The 4-foot-wide orange spherical buoys spin if someone tries to grab onto them, according to the New York Post. The barrier can be moved or extended if need be.

The effort is part of the state’s “Operation Lone Star,” which aims to combat the catastrophe unleashed on the state by President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.

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Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn defended use of the buoys at a Friday news conference, saying Biden had failed to secure the border.

“Well, we wouldn’t be having this conversation if President Biden and the Department of Homeland Security were doing its job,” he said. “Some of the tactics that are being used at the border are desperation tactics because, frankly, the Biden administration is not doing its job. … I’m glad Governor Abbott’s willing to take the measures that he thinks is necessary.”

The owner of a canoe and kayak rental place has also filed a lawsuit after law enforcement began installing the barriers, claiming that they will cause him “imminent and irreparable harm.”