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China: 26,155 new coronavirus infections – The vast majority from Shanghai

China: 26,155 new coronavirus infections – The vast majority from Shanghai

LAST UPDATE: 08:24

In China, 26,155 new cases of coronavirus were recorded yesterday, Saturday, of which 22,626 are related to asymptomatic carriers of the virus, as announced today by the National Health Commission of the country.

These numbers are higher than in the previous 24 hours, when 24,791 new infections were officially announced, of which 20,895 were asymptomatic carriers of the virus – which are counted separately by the Chinese health authorities.

The vast majority of the 26,155 new cases come from Shanghai Financial Center, which is the epicenter of the new Covid-19 wave in China. The metropolitan area of ​​25 million people, which has been severely locked down, recorded about 24,820 new infections.

In the last 24 hours, 1,600 patients treated with Covid-19 were discharged, while 30,170 people were quarantined as “close contacts” of carriers of the virus, according to the National Health Commission of China.

Shanghai: Aim to stop the transmission of Covid-19 out of quarantined areas by Wednesday

Shanghai has set a goal of halting the transmission of Covid-19 out of quarantined areas by Wednesday, said two people familiar with the matter, which would allow China’s largest city to further relax its restrictions. lick and begin to return to normal.

The goal requires officials to speed up diagnostic tests and transfer cases to quarantine centers, according to a speech by a local Communist Party official yesterday, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

Shanghai has been the focus of the largest outbreak in China since the virus was first identified in late 2019 in Wuhan and has recorded more than 320,000 Covid infections since the resurgence began in early March.

Locksmiths in Shanghai are struggling to find food and have lost their income as they complain about family separation and poor quarantine conditions. Closed factories and traffic jams in many parts of China due to restrictions on Covid-19 have an impact on global supply chains.

Shanghai’s new target for “zero community-level Covid cases” by April 20 has been announced in recent days to Communist Party officials and organizations such as schools, according to sources, who asked not to be named because the information has not been released. notified.

The Chinese definition of Covid Zero Cases at the community level means that no new cases occur outside quarantined areas.

A speech by the party’s secretary general in Shanghai’s Baoshan district yesterday described the new target as an order that came as the city’s situation reached a “critical juncture”, with public concern and rising food supply pressures.

“The State Council Working Group, the party’s municipal committee and the municipal government have called for the turning point in the epidemic to be reached on the 17th and the level of zero Covid cases to be reached on the 20th (April),” Chen Jie said in a speech. .

“This is a military order, there is no room for negotiation, we can only grit our teeth and fight for victory. It can also be said that this is a total attack, a final battle to reverse the trend of the epidemic.” he added in his speech.

The Shanghai Government and the State Council of China did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Telephone communication with the Baosan regional government was not possible outside of business hours today.

Source: Capital