Daily Covid cases surge as China battles worst outbreak in two years
China reports 3,200 new domestic cases on Sunday
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.China touched a two-year high of 1,807 new local symptomatic Covid-19 cases on Sunday as infections rose, driven by a surge in a northeastern province. Overall, the country reported 3,200 domestic Covid cases across its 19 provinces on Sunday, the worst since 2020.
As of 12 March, mainland China had reported 115,466 cases with confirmed symptoms, including both local ones and those arriving from outside the mainland. As many as 4,636 patients have died so far during the pandemic in China.
On Friday, China announced a lockdown for the nine million residents of the northeastern city of Changchun amid a new spike in cases across at least 19 provincial regions.
Data from the National Health Commission showed on Sunday that the number of domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms reported for Saturday spiked to 1,807, more than triple the number of infections of 476 the previous day.
While the coronavirus contagion originated in China in 2019, the country has maintained fewer cases than many other countries due to its “zero-tolerance” policy, which includes snap lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions.
With cases increasing, driven by the Omicron variant, authorities said that the zero-tolerance policy may not be helpful in dealing with the surge.
Zhang Yan, an official with the Jilin provincial health commission, which is at the heart of the current outbreak, said at a press briefing on Sunday that local authorities’ virus response so far had been lacking.
“The emergency response mechanism in some areas is not robust enough,” he said, according to AFP.
Jilin reported 1,412 new local symptomatic cases on Saturday, accounting for 78 per cent of the national total, up from 134 a day earlier.
“There is insufficient understanding of the characteristics of the Omicron variant... and judgment has been inaccurate,” he said.
While provincial capital Changchun is under lockdown, authorities have been conducting mass testing.
Authorities are also working to convert an exhibition center into a temporary hospital with 1,500 beds, according to the local official and state media reports.
On Sunday, a total of six officials from Dongguan in south China’s Guangdong province were sacked for their failure to contain the pandemic, reported Global Times.
They were reportedly removed from their positions for the loopholes in pandemic management at key venues in the city, especially their poor performance of duties which caused cluster infections of COVID-19 in Dalang township in late February.
Officials said that party members and government officials who fail to perform their duties in preventing and managing the contagion will be held accountable by law.
Additional reporting by agencies
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments