China reports most Covid-19 cases since January amid surge in Nanjing
BEIJING: China reported 76 Covid-19 cases on Sunday, the highest daily total since January amid a surge of local infections in Nanjing, which started a second round of mass testing and banned taxis from leaving the city to curb the outbreak.
Local infections accounted for 40 of the new cases, compared with only five a day earlier, the National Health Commission said yesterday.
Thirty-nine of the local cases were reported in the eastern province of Jiangsu, where Nanjing is the capital, and one in the north-eastern province of Liaoning, it said.
Of the 39 cases, 38 were detected in Nanjing, and one in Suqian city, the provincial government said on its website.
As at the end of Sunday, Nanjing reported a total of 75 local cases since its latest outbreak emerged last week, a health official said in a news briefing yesterday.
Taxis and cars on ride-hailing platforms should not leave the city, and eight long-distance shuttle bus stations will be suspended from today, Nanjing authorities said on social media.
Many of the positive cases in the first round of testing Nanjing launched last week were in an area close to Lukou International Airport.
The Nanjing government said on Sunday it had started a second round of nucleic acid testing of its 9.3 million residents.
The city has suspended a subway line linking the airport and a train station and taken other steps to control the new cluster.
Total coronavirus cases in China stand at 92,605, and the death toll remains at 4,636. - REUTERS
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