Two deaths from COVID-19 have been reported in China, the first after a year in which the disease had officially caused no deaths. According to the National Health Commission, the deceased lived in the northeastern province of Jilin, where travel restrictions were imposed over the past week due to a surge in infections. One of the dead was an elderly man of undetermined age, local authorities said, while the other was in his 60s. Covid has worsened their health, which has already been affected by other diseases.
3,844 new infections were detected in China on Saturday, most of them in Jilin. Considering there were 100 daily cases reported in the province up until a week ago, the growth has been fairly rapid. As during the first waves of the epidemic, China has decided to maintain very strict restrictions to protect the elderly population, which has a relatively low vaccination coverage and mainly lives in rural areas where it is more difficult to secure health care. In total, China reported 4,638 deaths from the coronavirus.