China reports more Covid deaths as infections surge

China reports more Covid deaths as infections surge

China reported two new deaths from Covid-19, both elderly people in Beijing
China reported two new deaths from Covid-19, both elderly people in Beijing. Photo: Noel CELIS / AFP
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Briefly News on your News Feed!

China reported two new deaths from Covid-19 on Monday, both elderly Beijing residents, as several major cities persisted with strict virus curbs despite a much-touted recent loosening.

The last major economy wedded to a zero-Covid policy, Chinese authorities have continued to impose snap lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines in response to emerging outbreaks.

Despite the central government this month announcing its most significant easing of the measures so far, authorities in many areas have stuck to hardline curbs as the number of new cases has spiked.

Monday's deaths involved a 91-year-old woman with a history of stroke and Alzheimer's disease, and an 88-year-old man with a history of cancer, bronchitis and stroke, local authorities said.

On Sunday, Beijing announced China's first Covid fatality since May, an 87-year-old man whose mild case worsened after he contracted a bacterial infection.

Read also

Hong Kong leads Asia losses on fresh China Covid fears

New cases in the capital jumped to 962 on Monday from 621 the day before, as authorities maintained a patchwork of restrictions in an effort to extinguish emerging flare-ups.

PAY ATTENTION: Follow Briefly News on Twitter and never miss the hottest topics! Find us at @brieflyza!

Nearly 600 areas of the city are currently "high-risk", a designation that typically requires residents to isolate for several days in their housing units or move to state quarantine facilities.

In some neighbourhoods, schools have been ordered to move classes online and office employees told to work from home.

Hardline curbs were also in place in cities including the southern industrial hub of Guangzhou -- where tens of thousands of new cases have emerged in the past week -- and northern Shijiazhuang, where officials have ordered residents in six districts to undergo mass testing.

Case spike

China recorded around 27,000 new domestic cases on Monday, according to the National Health Commission -- a tiny fraction of its vast population but a steep increase for a country accustomed to figures in the dozens or low hundreds.

Read also

No way to run a COP: climate summit host Egypt gets bad marks

While the zero-Covid policy has generally kept the number of new cases low, the approach has been tested in recent months by the emergence of virus variants that spread faster than officials can extinguish them.

The strategy has also stifled economic growth, isolated Beijing on the international stage and even sparked rare protests in a country where dissent is routinely crushed.

Earlier this month, the government issued 20 rules for "optimising" zero-Covid, reducing quarantine times for overseas arrivals and simplifying a system for assessing the risk of transmission, among other tweaks.

Multiple Chinese cities then cancelled routine mass Covid tests in a move that added to hopes of an eventual reopening.

But Asian markets fell Monday as Sunday's Covid death sparked fears officials would reimpose strict, economically painful restrictions.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell nearly two percent -- extending a sell-off at the end of last week -- while Shanghai was also down.

PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ find the “Recommended for you” block on the home page and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.