Beijing reports two additional Covid-19 deaths that were the first reported in weeks and come during an expected surge of illnesses
China had long hailed its hardline “zero-Covid" approach as keeping numbers of cases and deaths relatively low - comparing itself favourably to the U.S., where the death toll has topped 1.1 million.
The easing began in November, and accelerated after Beijing and several other cities saw protests over the restrictions that grew into calls for President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party to step down - a level of public dissent not seen in decades. The lack of data has made it more difficult to grasp the scale of the outbreak or its direction. However, a major drop in economic activity and anecdotal evidence of the virus' spread point to a growing caseload, while health experts have projected a possible major wave of new infections and a spike in deaths over the next month or two, particularly among the elderly.China is trying to persuade reluctant seniors and others at risk to get vaccinated, apparently with only moderate success.
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