China new Covid cases hit 2-year high; 2,000 infections infections reported

Coronavirus cases in China has hit two-year high as health officials have reported about 2,000 new infections in different parts of the country, including 20 in Beijing.

The Chinese mainland on Saturday reported 1,807 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 131 imported cases, China's National Health Commission said on Sunday.

Of the new local infections, 1,412 were reported in Jilin province, where China last Friday ordered a lockdown of the nine million residents of the provincial capital Changchun amid a new spike in COVID-19 cases in the area attributed to the highly contagious omicron variant.

Besides Changchun the latest lockdowns, also include Yucheng with 500,000 people in Shandong province.

The Commission reported that besides Jilin, 175 cases were reported in Shandong, 62 in Guangdong, 39 in Shaanxi, 33 in Hebei, 23 in Jiangsu, and 17 in Tianjin. Beijing also reported 20 cases.

Meanwhile, the situation continue to deteriorate in Hong Kong where officials confirmed 27,647 new Covid-19 cases, including 11,858 positive, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Sunday.

The former British colony also reported COVID-related 87 deaths taking the overall toll to 3,729, the report said.