China has reported its first COVID-19 death in more than a year, the first since January 2021. Both the fatalities were reported in Jilin province in elderly patients and were the result of their underlying conditions, Jiao Yahui, an official with the National Health Commission, told a news briefing on Saturday. One of them had not been vaccinated for COVID-19, she stated further.The majority of new 2,157 community transmissions reported Saturday came from Jilin. The province has imposed a travel ban, with people needing permission from police to travel across borders. Nationwide, China has reported more than 29,000 confirmed cases since the beginning of March. Faced with the worst surge since late 2019, officials have vowed to double down on the zero-tolerance strategy to contain multiple outbreaks across China.
China's southern tech powerhouse Shenzhen has partially eased lockdown measures, after President Xi Jinping stressed the need to "minimise the impact" of the coronavirus pandemic on the nation's economy. The city of 17.5 million, under full lockdown since Sunday, resumed work, factory operations and public transport in four districts and a special economic zone, Shenzhen's government said late Thursday. Those areas have "achieved dynamic zero-Covid in the community", it added. China reported 4,365 new infections nationwide Friday, according to National Health Commission data, as the country battles a nationwide Omicron surge, its worst coronavirus outbreak since early 2020.Millions remain under lockdown across the country, many under hyper-local restrictions aimed at smothering clusters as they emerge without shutting down entire cities.