China’s daily COVID-19 cases top 5,000

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – The daily count of COVID-19 cases in China has surpassed grim figures of 5,000, the highest single-day spike in the last two years.

China on Tuesday reported 5,154 cases, including 1,647 “silent carriers."

Jilin province in northeast China, which has a population of more than 21 million people, has been the hardest hit by the latest wave of infections, with 4,067 coronavirus cases reported alone. The region has been placed under lockdown.

As the province faces a "severe and complicated situation," Zhang Li, deputy chief of the Jilin Provincial Health Commission, said the administration will take "emergency unconventional measures" to push for a province-wide nucleic test, state-run daily Global Times reported.

Changchun and Jilin cities are undergoing a rapid spread of infection.

China, home to 1.4 billion people and where the first cases of the COVID-19 were reported in December 2019, is witnessing an unprecedented return of coronavirus, which is affecting 27 of the country’s 31 provinces.

Infections in China have reached this level for the first time since the pandemic began and the authorities clamp down a strict 77-day lockdown to contain the virus spread.

Several cities, including Shanghai and Shenzhen, have imposed strict lockdown, forcing local and international manufacturing companies to shut their businesses as part of the virus's containment measures.

Authorities in Jilin province have built five makeshift hospitals in Changchun and Jilin with a capacity of 22,880 beds to manage the COVID-19 patients.

To combat the COVID-19 situation, around 7,000 soldiers have been mobilized to assist with anti-virus measures, while 1,200 retired soldiers have “volunteered to work in quarantine and test sites.”

To boost its testing capacity, provincial authorities purchased 12 million antigen testing kits on Monday.

Several officials were sacked over their failure during the fresh virus outbreak.