China reports more than double COVID-19 cases in a day as outbreak continues

China’s new COVID-19 cases more than doubled from the previous day on Tuesday, as it faces by far its biggest outbreak since the early days of the pandemic.

According to the National Health Commission, 3,507 new locally spread cases had been identified in the latest 24-hour period, up from 1,337 a day earlier.

A fast-spreading variant known as ‘stealth omicron’ is testing China’s zero-tolerance strategy, which has previously kept the virus at bay, after a deadly initial outbreak in early 2020.

Most of the new cases were in northeast China’s Jilin province, where 2,601 people tested positive for the virus.

Smaller outbreaks have broken out around the country, including in the major cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

A nationwide surge in COVID cases has seen authorities close schools in Shanghai and lock down several cities. Almost 19 provinces are battling outbreaks of the Omicron and Delta variants.

Also read: China faces gravest COVID outbreak in two years

The city of Jilin has been partially locked down, with more than 500 cases of the Omicron variant being reported.

The neighbouring city of Changchun – an industrial base of nine million people – was locked down last Friday.

“[The outbreak] reflects that the spread of the Omicron variant is hidden, highly contagious, rapid and difficult to detect in the early stages,” Jilin health official Zhang Yan had said at a press briefing.

“It also reflects the rapid rise of the virus situation in individual regions and the lack of expansion capacity of medical resources, resulting in limited centralised admission and treatment in a short period of time,” Yan added.

Also read: China locks down city of 9 million amid new spike in cases

The smaller cities of Siping and Dunhua, both in Jilin province, were locked down on Thursday and Friday, according to officials announcements.

Hunchun city, bordering Russia and North Korea, was locked down on March 1, according to local authorities.

(With inputs from Agencies)