China has recorded 3,393 cases of Covid-19 this Sunday, according to official data. A record since the start of the epidemic in February 2020. Due to a spike in cases across the country, authorities have closed schools in Shanghai and confined several cities in the northeast of the country, while more than ten provinces are rushing to stem local outbreaks.
Residents of the large city of Jilin, which has reported more than 500 cases of the Omicron variant, had completed their six rounds of mandatory screening tests by Sunday, according to local authorities. On Saturday, several hundred neighborhoods in the city were confined. Changchun, the neighboring city and industrial base of nine million people, was put under a bell on Friday 11 March. Three makeshift hospitals have been built in an emergency, another is under construction to receive the “silent carriers” of the disease as the Chinese press says, reports our correspondent in Beijing, Stephane Lagarde. In addition, 1,527 asymptomatic cases were also reported on Saturday.
An epidemic response defective »
After pointing to an epidemic response “ defective three provincial officials were sacked, including the mayor and party official of the provincial capital, as well as the head of Jiutai district and the director of the municipal health commission in the neighboring megalopolis of Changchun. Local authorities have just announced that they will allow residents to buy and carry out antigenic self-tests themselves in an attempt to speed up the recovery of contact cases, hoping to cut the chains of transmission as quickly as possible.
That ” shows that the spread of Omicron is (…) highly contagious, rapid and difficult to detect in the early stages of transmission, Jilin provincial health official Zhang Yan said at a press conference on Sunday. ” This also reflects the rapid rise (…) of the virus in the various regions and the lack of (…) medical resources causing delays in admitting hospitals and treating patients, he added.
Zero tolerance for the virus
This spike comes as cases spiral out of control in the territory of hong kongin southern China, where tens of thousands of cases are being reported every day and hospitals are overflowing with patients.
China’s borders remain virtually closed as policymakers continue to enforce a zero-tolerance approach to the virus. China, where the coronavirus was first detected in late 2019, responds to outbreaks with local lockdowns, mass screening, and population control through tracking apps.
►Read: China could evolve its “zero Covid” strategy in the face of soaring infections
(with AFP)