SHANGHAI/BEIJING -Mainland China posted its first COVID-19 death in over a year Saturday. According to a posting on the National Health Commission’s site, two deaths were reported in Jilin in the northeastern part of the country.

China only reported two deaths from COVID in 2021. The last was Jan. 25, 2019.

The country continues to use a “dynamic clearing” strategy that aims at reducing transmission. This involves stringent measures, such as quick and targeted shutdowns as well as testing schemes when cases arise.

Jilin is located near Russia and North Korea, accounting for over two-thirds domestic infected cases.

Jiao Yahui (a top official at the National Health Commission) said that one of the victims was not vaccinated. Jiao said that both deaths were due to underlying illnesses, although their COVID symptoms are mild.

According to The Paper (a Shanghai-based state-run newspaper), one victim was 87 while the other was 65.

Jiao stated that more than 95% (or nearly 33,000) of those hospitalized with COVID China suffer from mild to no symptoms.

China has now reached 4,638 deaths with the latest deaths. China had 2,228 coronavirus confirmed cases on Friday. This is down from 2,416 the day prior.

There were 2,157 new cases. This compares to 2,388 the day before. The majority of these were transmitted locally. Jilin was home for 78%, but others could be found elsewhere in Guangdong and the province of Fujian.

China has 1,823 new cases of asymptomatic disease, which China separates from confirmed cases. That’s a decrease of 1,904 from the previous day. China’s total number of confirmed cases was 128,462 as of Friday.

This quickly made the deaths one of top topics on Chinese social media. Many users wanted to know more about the victims.

A social media user said, “For why did it happen? The details must be made public quickly.

While others supported China’s policy of dynamic-clearance, they also criticized the idea that China is opening up,

“Herd immunity, even opening up to allow people to exercise, this is not going to work,” said another person on Weibo.​