Beijing: China’s Covid cases continued to climb over the weekend with hundreds of infections detected in Anhui province, where two counties were already in lockdown.
The country reported 380 cases on Sunday, following 385 on Saturday. Infections have surged in recent days after holding below 50 for most of the previous two weeks. Anhui, the center of the latest outbreak, reported 287 cases for Sunday. A lockdown was imposed in Lingbi county in northeastern Anhui from Friday afternoon, while the neighboring Si county conducted its sixth mass testing on Sunday.
While China seems to have brought earlier outbreaks in mega cities Shanghai and Beijing under control, its Covid-Zero goal is facing a test again in its eastern provinces. Shanghai’s neighboring Jiangsu province reported 56 cases on Sunday.
Shanghai reported three local cases Sunday. One was found outside government quarantine after six days of the city reporting no community infections. Zhao Dandan, a vice director at Shanghai’s municipal health commission, cautioned in a briefing Sunday that the city still faces risks of a rebound in Covid cases. Beijing reported no new cases for Sunday.
Macau, which reported its first two Covid deaths of the pandemic Sunday, wouldn’t rule out locking down the entire city if its virus-control measures fail to curb transmission, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Ao Ieong U said at a Sunday briefing. The city has announced it will conduct three more rounds of mass testing this week, with 650 workers from mainland China having arrived to provide support. It’s reported a total of 784 cases during the current outbreak, which started on June 18.
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