Health authorities in China have reported more than 27,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, a daily figure that is close to the record recorded in the entire pandemic and which contrasts with the strict limitations imposed in large cities such as Beijing, where parks and museums have been closed to prevent contagion.
The Ministry of Health has reported 25,902 asymptomatic cases and another 2,225 classified as «confirmed», a term attributed to patients who do show symptoms. Of the latter, 2,145 are the result of transmission of the virus at the community level, according to the official press.
The Asian giant is approaching the highs of April, when the Ministry reported 28,973 positives in a single day, coinciding with an outbreak that had as its main epicenter the city of Shanghai, confined for weeks in application of the policy of ‘zero cases’.
Authorities have also reported deaths from COVID-19 again in recent days, breaking a six-month streak. So far, 5,231 people have died in China from a pandemic that reportedly originated in the eastern Chinese city of Wuhan.
The new wave has prompted the government to expand screening efforts and adopt new restrictive measures, mainly in large cities. Although massive confinements such as the one in Shanghai have not been decreed, there are currently 48 locations subject to some form of isolation on a smaller scale, according to data from Nomura Holdings collected by Bloomberg.
Vice Prime Minister Sun Chunlan, considered the Government’s main authority in the fight against the pandemic, visited Chongqing on Monday and urged the adoption of «decisive» measures to contain the contagions and, at the same time, to avoid as much as possible their impact on the daily life of citizens and general economic activity.
In the case of Beijing, most schools have stopped teaching on-site classes and all persons arriving in the capital from now on will have to undergo three PCR tests for three consecutive days. During this time, they will not be allowed to leave their homes.
