China faces worst Covid outbreak as cases double in last 24 hours
China Covid Update: China reported two times more fresh Covid-19 cases on Tuesday from the previous day as the country faces the biggest coronavirus outbreak since the pandemic began.
According to The Washington Post, China's National Health Commission identified 3,507 new locally spread cases in the last 24 hours, up from 1,337 the day before. Since the deadly initial outbreak in the city of Wuhan in early 2020, China has imposed numerous rules to keep Covid-19 cases out of the nation, but the fast-spreading variant dubbed as "stealth omicron" is putting China's zero-tolerance strategy to the test.
Although China's Covid-19 cases are low in comparison to the rest of the world, the country recorded over 10,000 cases in the first two weeks of March, surpassing the previous month's figure.
In the multiple outbreaks across China, no new Covid-related deaths have been reported so far. According to The Washington Post, the majority of the new cases were recorded in northeast China's Jilin province, where 2,601 infections were reported.
Jilin's authorities have banned residents from leaving the province or travelling between cities within it after the province recorded the highest Covid-19 cases.
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Since Friday, the nine million residents of Changchun, the provincial capital and an auto manufacturing hub, have been confined to their homes as authorities undertake mass testing in both Changchun and Jilin.
Meanwhile, Guangdong province, where the metropolis and key tech centre of Shenzhen has been locked down since Sunday, reported 48 new Covid cases.
Amid a rapid resurgence of Covid-19 cases, a top Chinese infectious disease expert said that it is "not time for China to lie flat" and debate over zero-Covid, instead, Beijing should take the period as an opportunity to lay out anti-epidemic strategies that are complete and sustainable.
Shanghai-based renowned infectious disease expert Zhang Wenhong made these remarks in a post on the Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo on Monday. He said that it is "the most difficult period" for China since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
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-PTC News
