 |
| A medical worker in protective suit collects a swab sample from a man for nucleic acid testing at a residential compound, during another round of mass testing following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Xian, Shaanxi province, China December 27, 2021.(File photo by= cnsphoto via REUTERS) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] Beijing: China ended its final week of 2021 with its biggest tally of local COVID-19 cases for any seven days since subduing the country's first epidemic nearly two years ago, despite an arsenal of some of the world's strictest COVID-19 measures.
The National Health Commission reported on Saturday (Jan 1) 175 new community infections with confirmed clinical symptoms for Dec 31, bringing the total number of local symptomatic cases in mainland China in the past week to 1,151. The surge has been driven mainly by an outbreak in the north-western industrial and tech hub of Xi'an, a city of 13 million. The deepening outbreak in Xi'an will likely firm authorities' resolve to curb transmissions quickly as and when cases emerge. The city, under lockdown for ten days as of Saturday, has reported 1,451 local symptomatic cases since Dec 9, the highest tally for any Chinese city in 2021.
While China's case count is tiny compared to many outbreaks elsewhere globally, forestalling major flare-ups in 2022 will be necessary. Beijing will be hosting the Winter Olympic Games in February. The ruling Communist Party will hold a once-every-five-year congress, expected in the fall, where President Xi Jinping will likely secure a third term as party secretary.
