SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China on Thursday reported the largest increase in daily COVID-19 cases in more than five months, driven by increasing infections in Hebei province around the capital Beijing.
Hebei, which entered a time of war on Tuesday, was responsible for 51 of the 52 local cases reported by the National Health Commission on Thursday. This is compared to 20 cases reported in the province a day earlier.
The total new COVID-19 cases for the whole of mainland China stood at 63, compared to 32 reported a day earlier, which was the largest increase in daily cases since 127 cases were reported on 30 July.
The number of asymptomatic patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease but has no symptoms yet has also risen to 79 from 64 a day earlier.
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on mainland China since the first outbreak in the city of Wuhan at the end of 2019 now stands at 87,278 cases, while the death toll has remained unchanged at 4,634.
Authorities in Shijiazhuang, Hebei’s capital, where most of the new cases are located, have launched mass test stations and banned rallies to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
Travelers must present a negative nucleic acid COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours before boarding a train or plane in the province.
In the city of Dalian in Liaoning province, which has been reporting local infections in recent days, residents in medium- or high-risk areas have been banned from leaving the city. Residents in other areas have been told to refrain from making unnecessary trips to Dalian.
Authorities in Guangdong province reported on Wednesday that a patient was infected with a more transmitted variant of the coronavirus that was discovered in South Africa.
Some scientists are concerned that COVID-19 vaccines currently being expanded may not be able to protect against this variant due to certain mutations that have been observed.
(Reporting by Jing Wang and Josh Horwitz; Writing by Se Young Lee; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Michael Perry)