China reports 5,280 daily Covid cases, highest tally since the pandemic started two years ago
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
China reported 5,280 new cases of Covid on Tuesday, more than double the previous day's tally. It is the highest daily number since the start of the pandemic.Jilin, a northeastern province, was the hardest hit, accounting for more than 3,000 cases, according to the National Health Commission.China reported more than 1,000 new virus cases for the sixth consecutive day on Tuesday. Since the coronavirus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019, the Chinese government had successfully suppressed large-scale outbreaks with its "zero-Covid" strategy, which involves hard lockdowns that confine large sections of the population to their homes.Due to this latest surge in cases at least 11 cities and counties nationwide have been locked down. This includes the southern tech hub of Shenzhen, which is home to 17 million people.According to a spokesman for Volkswagen Group, an outbreak at a factory in Changchun, northeastern China, also forced three sites to close for three days. The Hong Kong stock market fell by more than three per cent Tuesday, extending the previous day's tech-fuelled slide.Flight tracking data showed dozens of domestic flights were cancelled Tuesday morning at Beijing and Shanghai airports.In an emergency meeting held Monday night, state media reported that Jilin's governor promised to "achieve community zero-COVID in a week."Residents of Jilin, which shares a border with North Korea, were banned from travelling out of the province and around it on Monday.