Chinese covid cases reach two-year high

More than 500 cases reported two days in a row as the regime faced the greatest challenge to its zero-Covid policy since 2020.

A temporary isolation camp in Hong Kong on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

China has recorded its highest number of coronavirus cases since the first wave two years ago.

More than 500 symptomatic infections were reported for two days in a row as the government faced the greatest challenge to its zero-Covid policy since February 2020. No deaths have been reported and the case rates are far shy of the thousands experienced after the initial outbreak in the central city of Wuhan. However, asymptomatic cases go unreported and the true figure for infections is probably far higher.

The resurgence of cases in 24 of the country’s 31 provinces has been caused mainly by the more infectious Omicron and Delta variants. Neighbouring Hong Kong faces its worst wave yet with hospitals overwhelmed and 43,100 cases reported on Tuesday.

The rise in cases poses a challenge for a country that has tended to use strict, large-scale lockdowns and mass testing to curb the spread of infection. Measures have been softened in an attempt to ease disruption to normal life but more transmissible strains pose new challenges.

Zhang Wenhong, a leading ­epidemiologist, called for “precision” in implementing the zero-Covid policy to minimise impact on normal life. He argued the virus would probably be around for a long time. “But our goal is to keep its spread at an extremely low level, to avoid mass rebounds or any crash of the health system,” he posted on social media.

In Beijing, four people in a family were diagnosed as symptomatic cases, prompting the authorities to lock down the resi­dential compound where they live in the east of the city. Another three cases were detected in a northwest district before the authorities locked down the infected people’s residential buildings and tested their neighbours. Shanghai reported 55 infections on Tuesday, with 51 of them ­asymptomatic. The southern province of Guangdong, which neighbours Hong Kong, recorded 45 symptomatic cases and another 73 asymptomatic infections.

The hardest-hit city has been the eastern port of Qingdao, which reported 258 cases (129 of them ­asymptomatic) overnight on Wednesday. Health officials there had not found the origin of the outbreak, which began at a middle school, but said the Omicron strain in Qingdao had a different origin from any other known source in the country.

Approaches across the country differ. In the northern city of Zhuozhou, the authorities ordered 667,000 residents to stay at home for three days and get tested after health officials confirmed three infections.

Last week Zhang Yesui, the spokesman for the National People’s Congress, defended the country’s zero-infection policy. “The path is correct and the results have been good,” he said. “Whether it is about the number of cases, fatalities or economic data, China is one of the most successful countries in fighting the pandemic.”

The Times