China records 2,010 locally transmitted cases of Covid-19 in last 24 hours

The Chinese mainland reported 2,010 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the National Health Commission said on Thursday.

According to the commission, out of the new local infections, 1,810 were reported in the province of Jilin, 69 in Fujian, 29 in Tianjin, 16 in Shandong, 12 in Jiangxi, 10 each in Heilongjiang and Henan, Xinhua News Agency reported today.

The rest of the cases were reported in 12 other provincial-level regions, including Liaoning and Hebei.

A total of 44 imported COVID-19 cases were reported on Wednesday, said the commission in its daily report.

Witnessing a COVID surge, China on Wednesday reported 2,591 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases.

Of the new local infections, 2,320 were reported in the province of Jilin, 110 in Fujian, 36 in Liaoning, 24 each in Tianjin and Shandong, 15 in Guangdong and 13 in Heilongjiang, Xinhua had reported.

Earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that Beijing will stick to its "zero Covid-19" policy, days after National Health Commission (NHC) released new guidelines easing its control measures.

The NHC had uploaded a new document on its website. Titled the Novel Coronavirus Diagnosis And Treatment Plan, it was the ninth revision to a document setting out COVID-19 policy for the country of 1.4 billion.

China's zero-COVID policy is pushing cash-strapped local governments to the brink amid rising health care costs and efforts to control debt.