China reports first COVID-19 deaths in over a year
STORY: Mainland China reported its first COVID-19 deaths in more than a year over the weekend.
That's according to the National Health Commission, which said that two people died in the northeastern region of Jilin, and that one of the dead was not vaccinated.
Though small by international standards, China has been battling its worst COVID outbreak since the virus first emerged in Wuhan in 2020.
On Sunday, the country's new daily cases continued to register in the thousands, bringing the total number of cases to more than 130, 000.
For all of 2021, China reported only two COVID deaths at the start of last year.
The country is maintaining a 'dynamic clearance' approach to control the spread of the virus, unlike many other countries that have chosen to live with it.
That involves stringent measures such as short and targeted shutdowns, and quick testing schemes were cases are found.
Jilin, which borders North Korea and Russia, accounts for more than two-thirds of domestic infections in the latest wave.
