The two people died in the provinces of Shandong and Sichuan, respectively, according to the country’s central health management. No further details about them have emerged, nor whether they were vaccinated or not.
The unusually large protests that broke out in several Chinese cities the other week met resistance and have died down, but they have been followed by new tones from the government in Beijing.
Several large cities have relaxed the rules, for example by no longer forcing residents to take daily covid tests. In Beijing, for the first time in a long time, people have been allowed to use public transport without being tested first.
China’s one-party rule and President Xi Jinping have long insisted on a zero-tolerance approach to covid-19, and isolated cases have caused massive lockdowns that have forced millions of people to stay at home.
Nine out of ten Chinese have received the vaccine, but among people over 80, only 66 percent, according to the authorities’ report. 40 percent of them have received an extra dose.
Given the vaccination coverage and the fact that very few Chinese have built up a resistance through exposure to the virus, analysts fear that easing regulations too quickly could lead to runaway death tolls.
For individuals who are infected and discovered, continued total isolation applies.