China’s recorded 5,280 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, recording the highest number of daily cases in two years, news agency AFP reported citing Chinese National Health Commission (NHC). The nation is facing one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks fuelled by the Omicron variant as it locks down cities of Shenzhen and Jilin to stem the spread of the transmission.
Chinese state-run news agency Global Times pointed out that the outbreak in Jilin could surpass 10,000 due to ‘insufficient medical resources and previous poor responses’. The Jilin provincial government said that more than 3,800 people tested positive for Covid-19. The news agency citing a medical expert from the University of Hong Kong said that in China, Omicron spread stealthily and the transmission may have begun in February.
The Chinese news agency said that people in Jilin may have been infected in February but may not have gotten tested before going to hospitals for getting treated even before testing positive.
Worst-hit cities of Changchun and Jilin will also set up 35 designated hospitals with over 18,000 beds to treat sick patients. Chinese health authorities have said that Omicron has now replaced Delta as the dominant variant in the Chinese mainland.
China’s National Health Commission made a change to adapt to the rising number of cases to detect them by allowing antigen tests. Though nucleic acid tests or RT-PCR still retains the gold-standard the Chinese government was forced to make this change to help detection and prevention.
China will now allow the public to test themselves with antigen self-test kits. Jilin purchased 12 million antigen testing kits for its residents, Global Times said. In a report it also said that pre-orders surged on Chinese online sites as infections rose. China will also make changes to quarantine rules which will allow people to quarantine inside their homes rather than quarantining in designated hotels.
Jin Dongyan, a biomedical professor at the University of Hong Kong told Global Times that people who have elderly or children in their families may have to quarantine in hotels or quarantine centres. Dongyan said that Omicron may lead China to bring in new measures.
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