The number of daily Covid-19 cases in China hit a record since the start of the pandemic, official data showed on Thursday, amid multiple outbreaks and restrictions across the country.
China registered a total of 31,444 new cases on Wednesday, of which 27,517 were asymptomatic, the National Health Office of the country of 1.4 billion people said.
The previous record dates back to mid-April of this year, with 29,317 infections, coinciding with the confinement of Shanghai, the third most populous city in the world, which lasted two months and caused supply problems for its inhabitants.
China is the only major economy in the world that is still seeking to completely eradicate the virus from its territory with lockdowns of entire cities, isolation of positive contacts and massive tests.
The Chinese capital is experiencing its worst epidemic outbreak since the start of the pandemic at the end of 2019. Dozens of residential properties were confined and the vast majority of companies switched to teleworking.
Beijing announced the day before Wednesday almost 1,500 new cases, the vast majority asymptomatic, in a population of 22 million inhabitants.
It is the highest figure in the city, although very low compared to international standards.
Schools, restaurants and shops closed for fear of being placed in quarantine while the exhaustion and mental fatigue of the inhabitants continues to increase due to these often vague and changing restrictions, the duration of which is never announced in advance.
clashes with police
Likewise, pandemic lockdowns have spread across China, including a city where factory workers clashed with police this week, as the number of COVID-19 cases sets a daily record.
Residents of eight districts of Zhengzhou, home to 6.6 million people, have been ordered to stay at home for five days from Thursday, except to buy food or receive medical care. Mass testing was ordered daily in what the city government called a “war of annihilation” against the virus.
During clashes on Tuesday and Wednesday, Zhengzhou policemen beat workers protesting a pay dispute at Apple’s biggest iPhone factory, located in an industrial zone near the city.
In the previous 24 hours, the number of new COVID infections increased by 31,444, the National Health Commission reported on Thursday. This is the highest daily number since the coronavirus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.
The number of daily cases has been constantly increasing. This week, authorities reported the first deaths from COVID-19 in China in the past six months, bringing the total to 5,232.
While case and death numbers are relatively low compared to the United States and other countries, China’s ruling Communist Party remains committed to a “zero COVID” strategy that aims to fully isolate cases and eliminate the virus. completely. Most other governments have ended virus checks and now rely on vaccinations and immunity from past infections to help prevent death and serious illness.
Businesses and residential communities, from the manufacturing hub of Guangzhou in the south to Beijing in the north, are under various forms of lockdowns.