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China officially reported today the first cases of deaths from Covid-19 patients since the government began lifting strict anti-virus restrictions earlier this month, fueling concern that it could be the start of a grim trend as the virus rages through the country.

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The two deaths reported today were the first recorded by the national health commission since December 3.

it came just days before Beijing announced it was lifting restrictions that had largely kept the virus under control for three years but sparked mass protests last month.

On Saturday, a Reuters journalist saw hearses carrying the dead in Beijing en route to a crematorium for COVID-19 victims, as well as about 20 full yellow body bags on the floor of a funeral home next door.

Reuters could not immediately confirm that the deaths were from COVID.

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China has officially recorded only 5,237 Covid-related deaths during the pandemic, including the latest two.

This is a paltry number against the background of a population of 1.4 billion, and is a very low indicator by world standards.

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The epidemic of coronavirus (COVID-19)