Covid-19 fourth wave scare: China reports 6,074 new cases, around 21 crore people in 26 cities still under lockdown

China, which is going through its worst phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, has so far recorded 2,17,836 confirmed infections.

New Delhi: China recorded 6,074 new Covid-19 cases, including 384 symptomatic and 5,690 asymptomatic infections, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday (May 3, 2022). The new cases, however, were down from 7,822 a day earlier, of which 865 were symptomatic and 6,957 were asymptomatic.

There were also 20 new coronavirus-related deaths, all in the financial hub of Shanghai, where millions of the city's 26 million people are stuck indoors for more than a month now.

China, which is going through its worst phase of the pandemic, has so far had 2,17,836 confirmed Covid-19 infections and 5,112 fatalities.

The coronavirus, notably, had first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and for two years, authorities had managed to keep outbreaks largely under control with lockdowns and travel bans. But the recent surge of the Omicron variant has now tested China's "zero-Covid-19" policy this year. While several other countries are relaxing their pandemic restrictions, the Chinese government has restricted travel, doing mass tests, and is setting up sprawling temporary facilities to try to isolate every infected person. 

According to a report, around 21 crore people in 26 cities are currently under full or partial lockdowns in China. Chinese officials, however, have repeatedly said that heavy-handed Covid-19 curbs, including prolonged lockdowns, are needed to save as many lives as possible and prevent the health system from being overwhelmed.