According to the National Health Commission, according to the National Health Commission, China recorded the highest one-day total in more than five months, with three cities locked up in an effort to prevent another wave of infections in the world’s second largest economy.
Most of the patients recorded in the figures on Tuesday were near the capital Beijing, but a province in northeast China also saw an increase in new cases, official data released on Wednesday showed.
The National Health Commission said in a statement that 115 newly confirmed cases had been reported on the continent by January 12, compared to 55 a day earlier. It was also the highest daily increase since July 30th. On Sunday, there were also a large number of cases, with 103 new cases.
According to the commission, 107 of the new cases are local infections. Hebei, the province around Beijing, was responsible for 90 of the cases, while northeastern Heilongjiang province reported 16 new cases.
Hebei has shut down three cities – Shijiazhuang, Xingtai and Langfang – as part of efforts to further spread the virus, while Beijing city authorities have tightened screening and prevention measures to prevent another group from developing.
The number of daily new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, dropped from 81 cases to 38.
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases on mainland China now stands at 87,706, while the death toll has remained unchanged at 4,634.
The number of new cases reported in recent days remains a fraction of what China saw during the outbreak in early 2020. The case comes as a team set up by the World Health Organization to investigate the origin of the virus is ready to enter. Wuhan, the city at the heart of the global outbreak.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that the team would fly directly to Wuhan. Spokesman Zhao Lijian did not answer questions about whether the team would be quarantined and gave no further details.
The WTO delegation of scientists investigating the origin of the virus is expected to arrive in China on Thursday after nearly a year of negotiations. They expected to travel to Wuhan and talk to scientists on site, but Chinese authorities were hesitant about details and nothing was confirmed.
Members of the WTO team began leaving their homelands early last week, only to discover that Chinese officials had not finalized the necessary permits. The head of the WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he was “very disappointed”, but the Chinese authorities said the two parties were still in talks.
The research mission is a priority for the WHO and has great international support, but observers have urged people to manage the expectations that the team will reach any conclusions on the journey, and researchers said the mission is not about sharing the blame not.
‘It’s about reducing risk. And the media can help by avoiding Trump-style finger-pointing. Our work is not political, ”said Fabian Leendertz, a professor of epidemiology of highly pathogenic microorganisms at the public health body in Germany, and part of the team.