China reports 2,666 new local coronavirus cases, 51 deaths in last 24 hours

Mainland China reported 2,666 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 51 more deaths in the past 24 hours, the country's National Health Commission said on Monday.

Of the new local cases, 2,472 infections were reported in Shanghai while the rest of the cases were reported in 17 other provincial-level regions on the mainland including 79 in Jilin, 26 in Heilongjiang, and 14 in Beijing, Xinhua reported citing the commission.

The country also reported 17,528 locally transmitted asymptomatic infections of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, of which 16,983 local asymptomatic carriers were identified in Shanghai.

As many as 29,178 confirmed COVID-19 cases are currently undergoing treatment in hospitals while 2,982 patients recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours.

With 51 fatalities, all in Shanghai, reported in the past 24 hours, China's COVID-19 death toll mounted to 4,776, Xinhua reported.

Meanwhile, China's capital city Beijing is on high COVID-19 alert after the city recorded 21 new community cases on Sunday.

Moreover, China has been witnessing surges in its big cities in the past few months including Shanghai, where residents have been in lockdown for four weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The country's financial hub, Shanghai, has been facing the worst COVID-19 outbreak and has been desperately seeking medical care and basic supplies like food.

Notably, China's much-publicised 'zero-covid' strategy that the government credited for bringing the country out of the pandemic till recently is falling apart as the rapidly mounting cases are again forcing mass lockdowns like those seen in 2020.