Beijing: Another industrial city in China restricted 9 million people overnight as the National Health Commission reported a spiralling rise in cases on Tuesday morning.
Around 4,700 fresh infections were reported across the country, the bulk of which comes from Jhilin after the neighbouring city of Shenyang was ordered to lockdown late Monday. On Tuesday, Shenyang reported 47 cases after all residents were barred from movement until producing a 48-hour negative test result.
In recent days, China has recorded the biggest outbreak since Wuhan detected the novel virus first in 2019. Battling the surge fuelled by Omicron authorities have placed in a lockdown at selective areas, ramped up mass testing. The city reported its first death after a year and a half on Saturday. Cities like Shanghai have avoided full lockdown and instead imposed a web of individual buildings lockdowns, even as daily asymptomatic infections spiral into thousands.
China is facing mounting pressure to guard against imported infections amid a recent surge in cases throughout the country. The nation’s Zero COVID strategy is pushing cash-strapped local governments to the brink amid rising health care costs and efforts to control debt.
Earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that Beijing will stick to its “zero Covid-19” policy, days after National Health Commission (NHC) released new guidelines easing its control measures.