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Beijing (AFP)
China on Wednesday reported the level of daily new infections with the COVID-19 virus since the beginning of the year after a massive campaign of testing and tracing revealed the spread of the delta type of virus.
The country recorded 71 local infections on Wednesday, the highest level since January, as it battled the largest outbreak of the virus through extensive testing and lockdowns in multiple cities.
Official test results have revealed few cases, although the outbreak has reached dozens of large cities in this country of 1.4 billion people.
Beijing celebrated its success in combating COVID-19, allowing its economy to recover and people’s lives back to normal, while the rest of the world battled the epidemic that has killed more than four million people worldwide.
But the latest outbreak threatens that achievement, with nearly 500 local cases reported since mid-July, when an infectious outbreak was discovered among Nanjing airport cleaners.
Wuhan, where the virus emerged in 2019, this week reported its first local infection in more than a year, and announced on Tuesday that it would subject its 11 million residents to a PCR test.
Long lines of villagers waited in front of testing stations in the summer heat, while health workers took samples.
Nanjing also tested its 9.2 million residents before closing gyms and movie theaters.
Zhangjiajie, a tourist city in central Hunan Province, announced Tuesday that no one will be allowed to leave the city after a source of infection was revealed.
© 2021 AFP
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