China reports 5 new local Covid-19 cases in last 24 hours

BEIJING: China reported five locally transmitted confirmed Covid-19 cases, including three in Shanghai, one each reported in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and in Liaoning in the past 24 hours, according to the National Health Commission's report Sunday. Shanghai reported three confirmed locally transmitted Covid-19 cases and six local asymptomatic cases on Saturday, Xinhua News Agency reported citing the municipal health commission.

Meanwhile, a total of 22 local asymptomatic carriers were newly identified in nine provincial-level regions, including six in Shanghai, four in Inner Mongolia, and three each in Liaoning and Jilin. A total of 53 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery and there were 897 confirmed Covid-19 cases undergoing treatment across the Chinese mainland, the National Health Commission said in its Sunday report.

As of Friday, no Covid-19 death has been reported, after which the mainland's total Covid-19 deaths stood at 5,226. Meanwhile, the authorities in China's capital have warned that a Covid-19 surge due to the bar-related outbreaks was critical and the city is gripped by the most serious outbreak since the pandemic began.

Due to the latest outbreak in Beijing, millions of people are facing mandatory testing and thousands are under targeted lockdowns, just days after the city started to lift widespread curbs that had run for more than a month to tackle a broader outbreak since late April. The authorities announced over the weekend a "ferocious" Covid-19 outbreak linked to the Heaven Supermarket Bar, which had only just re-opened after coronavirus curbs were eased last week.

A Beijing health official last week said that the outbreak that started at a bar in Beijing is at a rapidly spreading stage and the transmission risk remains high, as per Global Times. More cases are expected to be discovered among visitors to the bar and their close contacts, deputy director of Beijing disease control and prevention center Liu Xiaofeng said during a press conference.

The coronavirus outbreak has raised new worries about the outlook for the world's second-largest economy.The economic impact of the zero-COVID strategy has also dented income. Fiscal revenue fell 4.8 per cent on the year for the four months through April, according to the Finance Ministry, owing mainly to tax refunds aimed at supporting businesses.