China COVID19
China battling fresh COVID-19 outbreak suspected to be driven by Omicron BA.2 variant
Beijing: China is witnessing a massive surge in COVID-19 cases with tens of millions of people are living under lockdown at present to prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus, media reports said.
This outbreak has spread far faster than previous waves of less infectious variants, with daily cases skyrocketing from a few dozen in February to more than 5,100 on Tuesday -- the highest figure since the early 2020 outbreak in Wuhan, reports CNN.
As of Tuesday, cases have been reported in 21 provinces and municipalities nationwide, including the national capital Beijing, and other major cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen, reports the American news channel.
According to media reports, 37 million people in the country are currently under lockdown.
Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan Sunday stressed taking the most thorough epidemic response measures to stem the COVID-19 outbreaks in northeast China's Jilin Province, among the hardest-hit areas as Omicron spreads in the country, reports Xinhua.
The Omicron BA.2 variant is considered as the reason behind the recent wave of virus outbreak.
"The Omicron BA.2 variant was behind the sudden resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Jilin City. It is more contagious and harder to detect and appears to spread more quickly," Sun Dianwei, head of the center for disease control and prevention in Jilin City, told Xinhua News Agency.
Sun said that based on the data analysis as of Mar 11, around 56 percent of those infected in the city showed no symptoms -- making it harder to track down the new cases.
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