The Chinese Government has declared that the nation is going through a severe outbreak of the Delta variant, with the epidemic reaching 20 out of 31 provinces. This situation has developed in spite of China’s extreme zero-Covid measures, with the Government now telling members of the public to stock up on food supplies in preparation for further restrictions. The MailOnline has more.
Cases were concentrated in the country’s northern regions of Gansu, Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia.
The National Health Commission confirmed on Monday 65 new local symptomatic cases for Sunday, up from 50 a day earlier and the highest daily count since August 9th at the peak of China’s last major outbreak.
Most of the local cases were found in Dalian, in the northeastern province of Liaoning, where nine infections were recorded on Wednesday.
And reports from the Sichuan provincial capital said dozens of people had scaled fences and trekked through bushes to avoid being tested for Covid.
It came after the capital was sealed off by authorities for mandatory testing after a person who had visited the city became infected. Police said they had not yet verified the reports or arrested anyone and were investigating.
The spread and rise in Covid infections comes despite the Chinese Government enforcing tighter curbs to contain the cases.
Henan province’s Communist Party Secretary Lou Yangsheng said on Monday the region would “contain and kill” its outbreak in one week.
The vow came after Henan recorded the largest single-day rise in local infections of the present outbreak with three on Saturday and 18 on Sunday.
Lou said officials would improve contact tracing systems and increase monitoring of close contacts and potential cases. He added lockdowns would be implemented and expanded as necessary.
National authorities also said on Saturday the country would continue to pursue a zero-Covid strategy.
One expert last week insisted the current outbreak will be contained “within a month”.
Zhong Nanshan, a leading expert in China’s respiratory disease research, told China Global Television Network that China will continue with its zero-transmission policy against Covid, because the global Covid fatality rate of 2% is too high.
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