There's a new article that 21 million phone subscriptions stopped. But China has a migrant workforce of 163 to 260 million people. The poorest would be the first to drop out even if it is cheap.
Regarding air pollution, could very well be many in industrial areas in China already have respiratory problems from factory smoke and this winter the CV hit hard.
A doc in Italy's Health Ministry said hospitals are listing comorbidity deaths as "covid deaths" without any proof.
Also, if you google hospitals being overrun with patients during flu season, you will find it happens frequently all over the world, including for the past 3 years, including this January in USA!