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China recorded over 20,000 Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, the biggest daily figure since the epidemic began, with Shanghai, despite being under lockdown, as the epicentre of the virus outbreak.
As the number of cases rises, the country’s “zero-Covid” plan is under severe strain.
Until March, China has kept everyday cases to a minimum with sudden localised lockdowns, mass testing, and severe limitations on overseas travel.
However, the number of cases has risen to thousands every day in recent weeks, with officials claiming to have discovered a mutation of the highly transmissible Omicron form near Shanghai.
China confirmed 20,472 illnesses on Wednesday, according to the National Health Commission, who added that there were “no new deaths.”
It is the country’s highest-ever daily infection rate reported by authorities, even during the peak of the original outbreak, which was centred around Wuhan.
However, the vast majority of patients are asymptomatic.
However, since city officials strictly adhere to virus standards, quarantine facilities in Shanghai are overflowing with people who test positive.
These include segregating Covid-positive babies and children from parents who test negative, a policy that has caused concern and sorrow in worried families.
Shanghai, China’s largest city, accounting for more than 80% of the national total, city officials said on Wednesday.
Last week, the 25-million-person metropolis’ residents were locked down in stages, resulting in scenes of panic-buying and mass testing.
A senior official in Shanghai admitted that the financial centre was “insufficiently prepared” for the outbreak.
As the lockdowns continue, people’ frustration about a shortage of fresh food and restricted movement grows, with state broadcaster CCTV stating that the city will conduct further tests on the entire population on Wednesday.
China, where the coronavirus was initially discovered in late 2019 in the central city of Wuhan, is one of the few countries that has taken a zero-Covid strategy to the pandemic.
As factories close and millions of consumers are confined indoors, the outbreak has taken on a more serious economic dimension, lowering analysts’ growth estimates.
