China reported record number of COVID-19 cases on Monday. Beijing was among the several cities which recorded a high number of daily Covid cases. As the government is trying to curb the cases on a war footing while reducing its effect on economic life, locally transmitted cases across the country went upto 16,072 from 14,761 on Sunday.
These were the highest number of cases reported since April 25, when coronavirus cases turned serious in Shanghai, China’s most populous city.
The cities that recorded their highest cases till now are Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Zhengzhou.
China eased its covid rules last week, calling it an “optimization” of its measures against coronavirus. It reduced the quarantine time for close contacts with an exception of individuals, neighborhoods and public spaces from which the lockdown bar was not uplifted.
There is no longer a “medium” category; instead, areas considered to be at risk of larger outbreaks are classified as “high” and “low.”
The number of cases is very low in comparison to the levels of infection seen in other nations, but China’s zero-COVID policy, which requires outbreaks to be stopped as soon as they start, has had a greater negative impact on communities and the economy.
On Monday, Beijing reported 407 instances, up from 235 the day before. In the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, the number of newly reported locally transmitted cases reached a new high of 4065, up from 3,653 the day before. A significant manufacturing hub in central China, Zhengzhou, reported 2,981 new infections, up from 2,642 the day before. The number of cases in Chongqing, a city in the southwest with a population of more than 32 million, increased to 2,297 from 1,820 the day before.
Even as the authorities are reducing the curbs in between, according to experts, the measures are still increasing and China may not begin to reopen the economy fully till at least the parliament session in March is over.
