BEIJING:Mainland China reported over 1,000 new COVID-19 infections in dozens of cities, the highest daily count in about two years, with the 

Omicron

 variant forcing a northeastern city to go under lockdown and the financial hub 

Shanghai

 to close schools.
The reported daily count of China's local cases, the highest since the initial nationwide outbreak in early 2020, is much smaller than many others outside China, but the growing number could complicate Beijing's "dynamic-clearance" ambition to suppress contagion as quickly as possible.
China detected 703 domestically transmitted asymptomatic infections for Thursday, according to data from the health authority on Friday, up from 435 a day earlier.
Another 397 local symptomatic cases, which China classifies separately from symptomless infections, were reported for March. 10, the 

National Health Commission

 said.

Several cities with infections have taken measures such as launching multiple rounds of mass testing, limiting vehicular access to highways, cutting face-to-face classes in school and suspending indoor entertainment venues.


In the northeastern province of Jilin, now one of the hardest-hit regions as Omicron has spread in China, its capital Changchun on Friday ordered all but essential businesses to halt operations and banned its 9 million residents from leaving their residential compounds for non-essential reasons.

Covid controls


"We will make Covid prevention and control more science-based and targeted according to changes in the epidemic situation and characteristics of the virus," Premier 

Li Keqiang

 told a press conference after the close of the annual parliamentary session in Beijing.

"Since the epidemic started, the service sector has been hit the most, especially those involving in-person contact, of which medium and small-firms account for the majority."


Major Chinese delivery and logistics firm 

S.F. Express

 said on Friday it had suspended deliveries of parcels and mail to the mainland from Hong Kong and Macau, citing the mainland's virus control requirements, without giving detail

Source : https://m.timesofindia.com/world/china/chinas-daily-local-covid-cases-top-1000-as-omicron-spreads/amp_articleshow/90166691.cms