China continues to break Covid case record, officials face the brunt for 'laxity'
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
As a resurgent COVID-19 wreaks havoc in China, more than 70 officials have been let go as a “punishment” in the past one month for failing to control the virus.China has been witnessing a spurt in Covid cases owing to the more contagious Omicron variant.According to South China Morning Post, top leaders have warned officials that strict action would be taken if they fail to act swiftly. Meanwhile, China reported over 4,700 new infections on Tuesday, with the bulk of cases being recorded from the northeastern province of Jilin, where more than 9 million people have been placed under lockdown.The number of local symptomatic cases in Jilin's provincial capital of Changchun has increased for five days in a row and hit a record on March 21. In China's financial hub Shanghai, 865 domestically transmitted asymptomatic infections were reported on Monday, an increase from 734 a day earlier, reports Reuters citing the official data.The city is pressing ahead with a block by block testing scheme after already completing more than 30 million tests.The southern tech powerhouse of Shenzhen on Monday announced it would lift its week-long lockdown "in an orderly manner", after having partially eased measures on Friday to minimise the impact of virus shutdowns on factories and ports.