China Reports 13,146 Covid-19 Cases In Highest Surge Since First Wave, One Detected With New Subtype Of Omicron

Shanghai had more than 8,200 local cases on Sunday. This is nearly 70 per cent of the nationwide total. Chinese state media reported a case infected with a new subtype of the Omicron variant.

New Delhi: China reported 13,146 fresh Covid-19 cases on Sunday, the highest since the peak of the first wave over two years ago, news agency AFP reported. This comes as the highly transmissible Omicron variant spread to more than a dozen provinces. 

Chinese state media reported a case infected with a new subtype of the Omicron variant, according to a Bloomberg report.
"There were 1,455 patients with symptoms .... 11,691 asymptomatic cases... and no new deaths reported," the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China said in a statement.

Nearly all of the 25 million residents of Shanghai, the epicentre of China’s most severe Covid-19 outbreak, were under stay-at-home orders on Saturday, an AFP report said. 

Shanghai had more than 8,200 local cases on Sunday. This is nearly 70 per cent of the nationwide total.

Though this is relatively low by global standards, it is troubling to a country that recorded just double-digit daily cases for much of the last two years.

English language Chinese newspaper Global Times reported that the new iteration of SARS-CoV-2, isolated from a mild Covid-19 patient in a city less than 70 kilometres (43 miles) from Shanghai, evolves from the BA.1.1 branch of the omicron variant.

Shipping giant Maersk said Friday that some depots in Shanghai remained closed and trucking services would likely be hit further due to the lockdown, the report stated.

According to a report by Xinhua, the official state press agency of China, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan arrived in Shanghai to oversee prevention efforts. She ordered officials to curtail the outbreak “as soon as possible”. 

Before this, Sun went to Jilin to oversee lockdown measures in the northeast province. She ordered Shanghai officials to “resolutely” conduct measures to stop the outbreak.

Authorities in the city of Sanya in Hainan province suspended all transportation to impede the spread of Covid, according to a post on an official WeChat account, the Bloomberg report stated. 

Lockdowns were initially announced for four days to mass-test Shanghai. But now, the lockdowns appear likely to be extended up to late next week or longer, according to the report.

The novel coronavirus was first detected in China, in 2019. The country is among the last remaining places following a zero-Covid approach to the pandemic.