Chinese officials reported 1,807 new symptomatic COVID cases on Sunday, more than three times the number reported the previous day and the highest in the country in two years.
The northeastern province of Jilin accounts for 78 percent of the country’s total infections, according to China’s National Health Commission. The nationwide total easily topped Saturday’s tally, which had already set a record for the highest number of cases since the country’s first outbreak in early 2020, triggering a new round of lockdowns.
“[The increase] showed that in some areas facing the rapid growth of the epidemic, there was a lack of capacity to expand medical resources, resulting in a limited flow of infections to centralized facilities for a short period of time,” a Jilin provincial official said at a briefing on Sunday.
Beijing has ordered its localities to adhere to a “dynamic cleanup” policy to keep infections close to zero, prompting several localities to take measures such as canceling group events, launching rounds of mass testing, and canceling face-to-face schooling.
People lined up to get tested for COVID-19 in Changchun. Photo by Chi Xiaowei/VCG via Getty Images
According to local officials and state media, authorities in Changchun, the provincial capital already under quarantine, are conducting mass trials and are working to turn the exhibition center into a 1,500-bed makeshift hospital.
Shenzhen’s Southern Tech Center reported 60 new local cases with confirmed symptoms on Saturday, the highest daily rise in such cases for the city since China contained the first outbreak in early 2020.
All nine districts in Shenzhen have suspended indoor eating, closed numerous indoor entertainment venues, and required companies to force employees to work from home from March 14 to 18 if remote work is possible, except for those working in essential sectors.
Chinese officials have reported 1,807 new symptomatic COVID cases, the highest number in two years. Photo by Wang Jingxue/VCG via Getty Images
State media reported on Sunday that six officials from local governments or the Communist Party in the southern city of Dongguan were suspended from their posts for poor performance in preventing and combating COVID.
The current number of cases in China is much lower than in many other countries, but the rising number could complicate its hopes of tamping down the spread soon.
The country where COVID originated is adjusting its testing regime in response to the proliferation of the Omicron variant, after health officials have required health workers to swab the public for the past two years using nucleic acid tests that require labs to process samples.
A makeshift hospital for COVID-19 patients at the Changchun International Exhibition and Convention Center, March 12, 2022. Photo by Zhang Yao/China News Service via Getty Images
Health authorities said they would allow the general public to buy such kits in stores and online for the first time, and on Saturday they approved the use of five locally-produced COVID-19 antigen kits for self-testing.
“In order to cope with the spread of Omicron, we need to promote the model of screening antigens and nucleic acid tests, allowing the public to independently purchase tests, which promotes early detection,” said Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan. Broadcaster CCTV reported at a government meeting on Saturday.
With mail wires