China registers 1,226 new local COVID-19 cases
Mar 17, 2022
Beijing [China], March 17 : China mainland reported 1,226 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, comparatively lower than Tuesday's 1,860 cases.
Of these new local infections, the north-eastern province of Jilin lodged 742 cases, Fujian Province reported 99 cases, the southern province of Guangdong reported 83 cases and northeast China's Liaoning Province registered 83 cases, Xinhua reported citing the Chinese National Health Commission.
China's other provincial-level also witnessed new locally transmitted COVID-19 infections including Beijing which registered four cases.
China also recorded a total of 91 imported COVID-19 cases on Wednesday while 8 new suspected cases, arriving from outside the mainland, were reported in Shanghai.
No COVID-19 deaths were reported on Wednesday, according to Xinhua.
Earlier, On Tuesday, China reported two times more new COVID-19 cases from Monday as the country faces, by far, the biggest outbreak since the pandemic began.
Amid a rapid resurgence of COVID-19 cases, Shanghai-based renowned infectious disease expert Zhang Wenhong remarked that Beijing should take the period as an opportunity to lay out anti-epidemic strategies that are complete and sustainable.
He made these remarks in a post on the Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo on Monday. He said that it is "the most difficult period" for China since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Zhang noted that it is "still not time for China to lie flat".
"We should have clearer methods for the future rather than debating over zero-COVID or co-existence," he was quoted as saying by the Chinese state media tabloid Global Times.
The state media reported that Chinese observers warned local governments to avoid taking extreme measures such as city lockdowns, as they would harm the local economy.
