China: First two Covid-19 deaths in more than a year
The deaths were the first in China since January 26, 2021, bringing the country's total death toll to 4,638.
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China has largely kept the pandemic under control.
China reported, on Saturday, its first two Covid-19 deaths in more than a year both in the northeastern province of Jilin, according to the National Health Commission.
The deaths were the first in China since January 26, 2021, bringing the country's total death toll to 4,638.
The commission added that China has also reported 4,051 new cases on Saturday, down from 4,365 the day before.
It is worth mentioning that China has largely kept the pandemic under control through a combination of strict border controls, lengthy quarantines, and targeted lockdowns.
However, the highly transmissible Omicron variant is posing a serious challenge to that strategy, prompting authorities to close cities such as the southern tech hub of Shenzhen, which has a population of 17.5 million people.
The world's most populous country has gone from reporting fewer than 100 daily infections just three weeks ago to reporting well over 1,000 per day for the past week.
