China records first coronavirus death in eight months

China has reported its first Covid death in months, as a World Health Organisation (WHO) team arrived in the country to probe the pandemic’s origins.

The latest death raises the toll to 4,635 among 87,844 cases.

China’s relatively low case figures are seen as a testimony to the effectiveness of strict containment, tracing and quarantine measures.

However, the figures have also raised questions about the tight hold the government maintains on all information related to the outbreak.

CGTN, the English-language channel of state broadcaster CCTV, reported the WHO team’s arrival in the early hours of Thursday.

A government spokesman said this week they will “exchange views” with Chinese scientists but gave no indication whether they would be allowed to gather evidence.

The WHO team will undergo a two-week quarantine as well as a throat swab test and an antibody test for Covid-19, according to a post on CGTN’s official Weibo account, but will start working with Chinese experts via video conference while in quarantine.